Topic: Shadows over Bogenhafen: game thread [players only please!]

[Finlay]

I want to go the breathing hole.

[commandant]

Mortus glances at Heinrich.

"I would rather not go into the sewers," she says.   "It is bad enough that you have already had a dunking and smell like crap.   If you are interested though I will cash the reward slip."   She pauses, considering.
"How do you suggest spliting the reward?" she asks.

[rufus sparkfire]

[Finlay and Fandir]

It's only a short journey to the breathing hole, but Klaus feels deeply uncomfortable - the smell, the darkness and the feeling of constriction are overpowering. Julian is more at home in tunnels, but even he is disgusted by the stench. The system hasn't been very well maintained by its human owners.

Klaus's lantern happens to illuminate a dry pipe in the wall to his left, and dozens of tiny eyes stare back at him. It's full of rats!



He cries out in alarm and almost drops the lantern. The noise makes the rats retreat further into the pipe. After a moment, Klaus collects himself and they continue.

Further on, they discover a wooden door built into the stonework (S2 on the map). Julian is very surprised to see this, since it isn't shown on the map and anyway has no reason to be here. He notices that the stonework has been crudely hacked away in order to install the door, which itself is very badly made. Klaus notices a strange sign carved into the stone beside the door, but he has no idea what it means. Julian is sure that the sign is not dwarfish.



They carry on to the breathing hole (S1 on the map), knowing that the passage is a dead end and they will have to pass the door again anyway. The shaft the goblin entered by is very narrow - only 12" square, and it's amazing that the goblin was able to fit through. There should have been an iron grill at this end of the shaft too, but it has rusted away to almost nothing. Klaus studies the opening closely, and notices traces of greenish blood. The blood is not only on the remains of the grill: it runs up the breathing shaft, and also continues down the sewer passage he and Julian had just walked down.

Now that they are aware of the blood trail, they should be able to follow it without too much trouble, provided they go slowly and search with care. The trail runs on the other side of the passage to the mysterious door - but are they interested in opening it anyway?

[Finlay]

[so we can follow the trail and avoid going through the door? That's what I want to do.]


"I don't think we should go through the door... without the others here" Julian says after a pause. "Let's follow the trail and see if we can find this creature."

[rufus sparkfire]

[yes, the trail avoids the door, so the goblin didn't go that way]

The goblin's trail leads back to the manhole Julian and Klaus entered by, turns right at the three-way intersection, then takes a left turn. This passage curves gradually to the left, and seems even more slime-coated and unsettling than the previous section. From time to time the water in the effluent channel seems to bubble in places. Klaus thinks he sees a dark shape in the corner of his eye, breaking the surface before diving back under - when he looks, fearfully, he sees nothing.

After a long walk, Julian notices something floating in the water near an inlet pipe. As he raises his lantern, a large rat leaps from the object and swims away. The light from the lantern makes it horribly clear what the floating object is: it's the body of a dwarf, hideously mutilated. One arm is missing, and his chest has been ripped open. His face is partly hidden, but Julian has a vague feeling he's seen him before.



The goblin's trail continues along the walkway without faltering.

[Cannonofdoom]

Mortus glances at Heinrich.

"I would rather not go into the sewers," she says.   "It is bad enough that you have already had a dunking and smell like crap.   If you are interested though I will cash the reward slip."   She pauses, considering.
"How do you suggest spliting the reward?" she asks.

"Right down the middle, of course. Twenty for you and twenty for me. I will attempt to find Julian. His knowledge will be very valuable in the sewer."

[rufus sparkfire]

[So, what are you doing exactly?]

[Cannonofdoom]

[So, what are you doing exactly?]

Mortus is going to cash the reward slip, and I am going back into the festival to find Julian. I will stop by the freakshow to make inquiries about the escaped critter as well.

[rufus sparkfire]

[he's in the sewer so you won't find him! But I suppose you don't know that yet.]

[Cannonofdoom]

[he's in the sewer so you won't find him! But I suppose you don't know that yet.]

Exactly. 

[commandant]

Mortus will take the paper and go to where ever one gets gold from for rewards.   The city hall or Festival Court or whatever and cash it.   Then she will go back to where the freak show is to see if Heinrich is there and if he is not she will go and look for a tavern that has rooms for the night.   Once she has found one she will wander around the stalls and meet the others at the beer tent at the apointed time.   She will listen very carefully to people to hear any interesting rumours.

[rufus sparkfire]

Heinrich goes to the freakshow first, which is very close to the Festival Court. He asks Doctor Malthusius (who he saw promoting the show earlier in the day) about the missing goblin. The doctor describes the creature thoroughly, explains how it escaped, and shows Heinrich the breathing hole leading to the sewer that it escaped down. He notices traces of greenish blood on the broken bars of the grill over the hole. Since the goblin is clearly injured, it will have left a good trail to follow.

"I'm very grateful to you for helping to look for my specimen," the doctor says, " but I should tell you I've already hired someone else - he started the search quite oon after the escape, so I'd imagine he's deep in the sewer by now. He's a dwarf engineer called Julian - uh - Stonebridge, I think."

[Cannonofdoom]

Heinrich goes to the freakshow first, which is very close to the Festival Court. He asks Doctor Malthusius (who he saw promoting the show earlier in the day) about the missing goblin. The doctor describes the creature thoroughly, explains how it escaped, and shows Heinrich the breathing hole leading to the sewer that it escaped down. He notices traces of greenish blood on the broken bars of the grill over the hole. Since the goblin is clearly injured, it will have left a good trail to follow.

"I'm very grateful to you for helping to look for my specimen," the doctor says, " but I should tell you I've already hired someone else - he started the search quite oon after the escape, so I'd imagine he's deep in the sewer by now. He's a dwarf engineer called Julian - uh - Stonebridge, I think."

"Do you happen to know where he may have entered the sewer system?"

Heinrich will also thoroughly examine the grate to see if there is any possible way to get through without injury.

[rufus sparkfire]

Mortus goes into Bogenhafen and finds the town hall without difficulty. Getting to the proper office to cash the money order is more difficult - she is directed from place to place, often being kept waiting before being told to go to yet another floor of the building. At last, she ends up in a small, dusty room in a quiet corner of the town hall. A middle-aged woman with dyed black hair examines the money order and brightly tells her, "Oh yes, I can cash that for you! I'm sorry if you've had a difficult time finding me - the towns finances are a complicated matter, and no one wants to risk paying out a sum like this from the wrong budget. Why, they'd have to pay it back themselves!" She opens a safe in the corner, and counts out 40 crowns into a bag. "Here you are - if you could just sign here, here and here... thank you! Congratulations on doing whatever it was you did to earn this money. I'm sure it was terribly exciting! Good evening."

Heinrich has left the freakshow by the time Mortus gets back there - Doctor Malthusius says he went into the town with the intention of going down into the sewers. Having no intention of following him there, Mortus wanders around Bogenhafen looking for an inn with rooms available for the night. All of the inns near the festival are full, but after a long search - and the help of several locals - she finds an inn (the Surprised Goat) off Hafenstrasse, close to the Teamster's Guild, which has a four-bed room available at a cost of 30 shillings. She books this and heads back to the fair.

[rufus sparkfire]

[cannon]

"Hmmm," the doctor says, "I'm not sure. I expect he would have used the closest manhole to the breathing hole the goblin went down. I can't say I've ever noticed where they are though - they aren't the kind of thing you look at! I expect if you go in by the postern gate and ask around, you'll find it easily enough.

The hole the goblin went through is ridiculously small - it would take a contortionist to get in that way (or a three legged goblin, apparently).

[Cannonofdoom]

[cannon]

"Hmmm," the doctor says, "I'm not sure. I expect he would have used the closest manhole to the breathing hole the goblin went down. I can't say I've ever noticed where they are though - they aren't the kind of thing you look at! I expect if you go in by the postern gate and ask around, you'll find it easily enough.

The hole the goblin went through is ridiculously small - it would take a contortionist to get in that way (or a three legged goblin, apparently).

I make my way to the postern gate and ask around.

[rufus sparkfire]

[cannon]

Heinrich gets a lot of suspicious looks as he asks passers by where the nearest manhole cover is, but at length a narrow-faced man points him in the right direction and he finds it. He can see that the cover has been moved recently, and on levering it open he discovers that a ladder has been left leading into the shaft. This must be the way Julian went.

Lighting his lantern [if you don't have one, let's assume you bought one before going down here! It's dark], Heinrich descends into the sewers. He finds himself at a three-way intersection. He can tell that one of the passages leads in the rough direction of the breathing hole.

[rufus sparkfire]

[rufus]

Rufus goes to Wales until Tuesday evening, and doesn't update the game until then!

In the meantime, Heinrich, Mortus, Klaus and Julian gain 100 experience points each! They can spend these right away to buy another advance from their advance scheme (a +1 or +10 depending on the stat).

Well done everyone!

Feel free to post what your character does next. I'll update when I get back.

[Cannonofdoom]

[cannon]

Heinrich gets a lot of suspicious looks as he asks passers by where the nearest manhole cover is, but at length a narrow-faced man points him in the right direction and he finds it. He can see that the cover has been moved recently, and on levering it open he discovers that a ladder has been left leading into the shaft. This must be the way Julian went.

Lighting his lantern [if you don't have one, let's assume you bought one before going down here! It's dark], Heinrich descends into the sewers. He finds himself at a three-way intersection. He can tell that one of the passages leads in the rough direction of the breathing hole.

Heinrich will head towards the breathing hole, expecting that to be the best place to pick up the trails of both Julian and the gob.

[rufus sparkfire]

Heinrich makes his way down the passageway leading to the breathing hole. He soon discovers a mysterious door on the right-hand wall. There seems to be light shining through cracks in the woodwork, and he also spots a symbol cut into the stone beside the door. Heinrich thinks the symbol looks vaguely familiar, but can't quite place it.



He continues to the end of the passage, where he finds the breathing hole. It's a simple matter to locate the goblin's blood trail, which leads back the way he has just come. Heinrich can also see signs that someone else has been here recently.

He follows the trail back along the passage towards the intersection. The trail avoids the door.

[does Heinrich follow the trail, or examine the door further?]

[Fandir Nightshade]

The effects of the drinks the drugging of Klaus made him follow the Dwarf in good spirits and kind of meekly, with the effects wearing off his brain starts to be working again properly and he can´t really remember what kind of devil was riding him following a dwarf he barely knows into some sewer with gigantic rats looming in the dark hunting down a mutant beast, the only thing he can think about is finding the nearest exit and leaving the place but walking around alone down there doesn´t seem like the best plan. It might even be worse than the stupid plan to come down here in the first place he takes out his club and with cold sweat on his brow bows over to the Dwarf. His eyes darting nervously around left and right checking the surrounding for threats.

"I think he already got away....might be best we leave and forget about the whole affair....don´t ye think?"

[Cannonofdoom]

Heinrich's curiosity will get the better of him, and he will examine the door further.

[rufus sparkfire]

[cannon]

Heinrich Examines the door closely. He can't see anything through the cracks in the timber, and he can't hear anything on the other side either. Carefully trying the handle, he finds the door to be locked.

Just then, he spots something odd about the stone with the strange sign carved into it. He touches it, and finds that it is loose - it can be removed from the wall. Behind the stone is a small iron key that looks as though it would fit the lock on the door.

[observe test passed on a 06]

[Fandir Nightshade]

"Madness...pure madness, we should check that dwarf if he has anything useful on him and get the hell out of here."

Klaus will move closer to the dwarf checking the surrounding all the time and light the dead body with the lantern checking if there is anything useful on him and also investigating more closely what might have caused the wounds, his mind already summoning images of some monster with dozends of tentacles that had ripped into him and also sucked out his brain.

[rufus sparkfire]

[Fandir and Finlay]

Klaus leans over the dwarf's body, shining his lantern on it to get a better look. The injuries are even more horrible than they appeared at first. The left shoulder is a twisted ruin of splintered bone and torn flesh, where the arm has been bitten or twisted off. The chest has also been ripped open, with each rib snapped away from the breast-bone and made to stick straight out. There's a horrible gap where the heart and lungs should be. Cuts and stab-wounds are scattered across the rest of the body. Klaus prods the head with his club, in order to see the face more clearly... as he does the body slips suddenly away from the wall it was resting on. The head falls back at an awkward angle, exposing a deep gash in the throat, and the mouth drops open. The dead eyes seem to catch Klaus's, and it looks as though the corpse is screaming in pain and horror. Klaus recognises him then - he's the dwarf they saw Heinrich and Mortus speaking to by the Festival Court.

This is all too much for Klaus. He jumps back with a cry of horror, nearly losing his footing. Klaus gains one insanity point! [failed Cl test after seeing something nasty].