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

[Finlay]

“Janna, Thank you for your help so far” Julian bows his head to the witch “I am an engineer and chemist of some skill and think it might be possible to devise some sort of test using what I can find in the underground alchemical lab. But it would help me greatly if I could spend some time with whoever is translating the lab book, once I have been back to the lab”
[I think the lab was under dwarf tunnels? So no humans allowed in]

[rufus sparkfire]

"The dust should help you see where you're aiming, at least," Janna says, "it's reasonably safe to breath it in, by the way, but try not to eat any!"

Simon returns with a small jar of blue powder. Janna hands it to Admund.

"I was glad to help," she tells Klaus, "stopping the taxes and dealing with a possible rogue wizard will do for now, but maybe we can discuss further repayment later!" She smiles. "Dinner might be fun. When this business is over, naturally. I wouldn't want to distract you."

To Julian, she says, "you're welcome, Mr Stonebridge. I'll find someone to start work on the lab book right away. Whenever you're ready, you can come back here and join them.

"Good luck to all of you with your investigations. I'll keep the High Wizard informed - and no one else!"



[yes, the way Julian reached the secret lab was by the dwarf tunnels. The evil wizard had another way in, but you haven't found it. No humans allowed in the dwarf tunnels indeed!]

[Karl Voss of Averland]

Admund accepts the dust of Ibar-Helm gratefully. He opens the pouch and takes a pinch out, sifting it through his fingers, examining it.

[Added Dust of Ibar-Helm to Inventory]

"Thank you, Frau Janna, this should do nicely. If this scally-wag Klaus forgets to take you out for thank-you dinner, i'll feed this to him, and take you out for a nice dinner at The Showboat myself." Admund says jokingly. He loops the pouch strings around his belt, opposite his dagger.

Admund is ready to depart for the Singing Moon when the party is finished.

[Fandir Nightshade]

Klaus smiles at Admunds notion.

"Well I guess that would be all for right now." Klaus would get up to leave the mages guild. "Max I want you to come along with me to the chancellor Sparsam. I think we all should meet again this afternoon to share our progress and discuss how we should go on. Admund could you be so nice to escort Mortus around at least until Brandt is under custody. I don´t want her running into the merchants guild building either betraying us or making Brandt take a run for it. Mortus would you be so nice to either go along with Admund or myself?"

[Cannonofdoom]

Heinrich will go with Admund.

[Karl Voss of Averland]

"Right. Let's meet up in an hour or so at the Templar's Arms." Admund says, descending the steps of the guild hall.

He will go down the street  to the Royal College of Music before turning south toward the Singing Moon.

[commandant]

Mortus considers Klaus' request.   Through out the meeting she had positioned herself beside the door and away from the others.   She had noticed that Admund had been keeping an eye on her but he had already left so he didn't seem to think it was that important now.   Jenna's reactions to Klaus' words tested her schooled reserve.   It was almost more than she could do to not let the shock show on her face.   Maybe coming wasn't such a bad idea after all, the wizard didn't seem that interested in her, none of the wizards in the guild seemed that interested in her.   Something which could only be considered a good thing and she learned some interesting new stuff.   She bites the inside of her mouth, chewing a little as she thinks.   No doubt the others are going to file out soon and she will have to make a choice.

Klaus is being paranoid, his character has changed quite considerably in the two weeks since she last spent a good deal of time with the party.   He was talking about them being apart for months.   The timeline stuck in her mind and she couldn't reason it out.   Why did Kluas think that two weeks was months?   Had he lost the ability to count time and if so how and why?   Had he been sucked into another world like herself and just not being able to recognize it?   She stops chewing on her cheek before she causes herself to bleed.   Through out the meeting she had been thinking about why Klaus suddenly thought she was going to betray the party.   There were only three reasons that instantly sprang to mind, she had muddled over them.

The first was fairly obvious.   Heinrich had told him that she was travelling with the doktor and believed the doktor to be a cultist of some sort.   Klaus had decided that this meant that she was a cultist of some sort as well.   She thought about this for a brief second and then dismissed it.   Klaus wasn't that stupid.   He would know that if she was a cultist she would have hidden he travelling companion from them.   There was no reason for her to tell them after all.   Kluas couldn't be that stupid could he?   He hadn't shown such great stupidity but she supposed that she could have missed it.   Maybe his brains had been garbled when he was transported into another word, that would at least give a good reason why he was having trouble counting days of the week.

The second was that she had been really drunk the night before, she wondering if she had said something but she didn't remember meeting Klaus.   Heinrich yes and Julian and Admund and Max but not Klaus.   She can't have said something to him that would have set him off on this train of thought.   She tried to remember in deatail what she had done the day before, but after the thing with the armour she had drank too much.   It was almost worth it.

The third was that Klaus was a cultist himself and was trying to cast blame onto her to keep it from himself.   This make more sense to her that option two but still not that much.   The problem with it was that she didn't think that Klaus was that stupid.   If he was a cultist it would make more sense just to carry on as normal and not cast any doubt on anybody so close to home.   Any other course of action left himself open to doubt being cast on him when said attacked person decided to try and find out why he had suddenly changed his tune.   The more she thought about it as the meeting wore on the more she dismissed it.   Klaus wasn't that stupid was he?

It was very stranger and Mortus wasn't fond of strange things.   Strange things tended to lead to nasty surprises and she wasn't really one for surprises either.   Maybe she should demanded of Klaus that he show his heart, see if there was a tattoo there.   Maybe not, it didn't seem like a good idea.   She kept coming back to Kluas saying that she had been gone for months.   That was the strangest thing for him to say, the strangest thing for him to believe.   Why would he think that was true?   Of all the strangeness of his behaviour that was the weirdest thing.  She ran her hand through her hair.   What to do?   

She waits a minute or so to give Admund plenty of time to get ahead of her.

"I'll catch up with Admund," she says.  Within one second she has left the room..   She walks along swiftly.   Once outside she disappears into the carnival crowd.

Mortus will go to Hess' house and knock politely.

"I need to speak with the Lady Hess immediately," she says when the door is opened.   "On a matter of great importance."

[Fandir Nightshade]

When Klaus realizes that Mortus tries to flee the scene he raises an eyebrow. "Jana what does the wizards guild do with freelance mages that are a danger to the city? I fear Mortus is at best...highly unstable...at worst one of our enemies. Could you lock her down until we find out more? I fear she might fireball some random people or accidently summon a demon...she didn t come here voluntarily she is scared by the mages guild..and she tried to resolve the issue of her missing magic by meddling in forbidden lore we found.".... "I think she might be a danger to herself and others"

Klaus adds in an empathetic voice with a look at Max.

[rufus sparkfire]

"Are you sure your friend is a wizard," Janna says, "I didn't sense the usual conflux of magical energies around her. She may simply be a troubled young woman, and there are plenty of those around." She smiles. "If we took a hard line with such people, half our students would be in jail!"

"I don't think Mortus would really hurt anyone," Max says, "not deliberately, anyway."

[Fandir Nightshade]

"I am sure she has thrown fireballs and put grown men to sleep with a touch of her hands...her skills seemed to have developed over the time but she was also acting more and more strangely....especially after Wittgenstein Castle and even more so since after she split up with us after we reached Altdorf. If we want to stop her we should either go after her now or send someone...Max I have to disagree she might have used us to get rid of other cults and now follows her own design.....she surely is acting strange and I don´t feel too good about her wandering around the city not knowing what she is up to.....Jana could the mages guild take her into custody for a while?"

[rufus sparkfire]

"We aren't responsible for the behavior of non-members, Klaus," Janna says, "I'm sure there are a lot of wizards visiting the city for the carnival. If they commit crimes, the watch will deal with them. Your friend is no different. You should report her to the law if you think she is a danger to the city."

[rufus sparkfire]

[Mortus]

The door is opened by the same halfling servant as before. "Miss Hess isn't at home at the moment, miss. If you would like to leave a message, I will make sure she receives it as soon as she returns."

[Fandir Nightshade]

"Well I think we just let her follow her own designs then...I guess. So thanks again Jana for all the help."

Klaus will get the drugs to Sparsam.

[commandant]

"Could you tell me where she is?" Mortus asks.   "It is of vital importance which I speak with her."

[rufus sparkfire]

[Mortus]

"I'm afraid I don't know where the mistress is," the servant says, "but if you leave your details I promise to pass them on."

[commandant]

Mortus will leave her details with the servant.   She will also say she will be at the fire breathers at noon.   She will go back to her inn and attempt to mediate for ten minutes [or 20 MPs because I can't remember if that works on time or MPs].   If that doesn't work she will go to the merchants' guild.   She will stop along the way to buy two pistols.

[rufus sparkfire]

[Mortus]

Mortus finds that she is still unable to meditate. Her thoughts are racing around her head, making it impossible to concentrate.

On the way to the merchants' guild, she finds a gunsmith's shop in the Neumarkt district. The smith, a weaselly-looking man with greasy brown hair, looks at her dubiously when she asks about pistols. "Have you ever fired a gun, miss?" he asks.

[rufus sparkfire]

[Admund and Heinrich]

Heinrich and Admund leave the Wizards' and Alchemists' School and head for the Singing Moon, passing the magnificent dome of the Royal College of Music on their way.

The Singing Moon is in Osttor, a few streets away from the home of Huntmaster Allavandrel. The building looks unremarkable from the outside, apart from the door which is made of delicate, grey wood. An image of a moon is carved into the wood in sweeping, graceful lines.

The establishment appears to be closed.

[rufus sparkfire]

[Julian and Ragni]

Julian doesn't want to keep Ar-Ulric waiting, so he and Ragni set off for the Temple of Ulric. The temple [location 10] is at the center of Middenheim, west of the Great Park. It's a vast and ancient building, more like a fortress than a temple. The main temple is over one hundred and twenty feet high, and it is surrounded by a complex of other buildings: accommodation for the priests and the Knights of the White Wolf; the vast library called the Lore Haus; and the Star Chamber, the city's religious court.

The two dwarfs climb the main steps and enter the temple. They find themselves in a vast, vaulted chamber, the ceiling far above. At the opposite end of the room is a statue of Ulric, twenty feet high. The god is depicted in full battle-fury, bare-chested, swinging his axe Blitzbeil. He sports an unruly beard, and wears a wolf-skin about his head and shoulders.

"Looks a bit like a slayer, boss," Ragni says, "quite dwarfy for a human god!"

Before the statue is the high altar. In front of that is a hearth containing the sacred flame, a roaring fire that is kept burning constantly.

No services are in progress at the moment, but there are nevertheless a great many pilgrims and worshipers milling around.

[rufus sparkfire]

[Klaus and Max]

Klaus and Max return to the inn to collect the drugs, then head for the Graf's palace. At the gates, they are stopped by a group of Knights Panther. "What business do you have at the palace?" the leader asks.

[commandant]

Mortus smiles.

"No," she admits.   "They are meant as a present for a friend, though if you could show me how they work that would also be very good."

[rufus sparkfire]

[Mortus]

The shopkeeper narrows his eyes. "These are dangerous weapons, miss," he says, "make a mistake and you could blow your own hand off. They aren't something to mess around with... and they aren't cheap either."

[Fandir Nightshade]

"We are here to see the Chancellor Sparsam you can tell him Klaus von Sternberg and Max Breytenbach are here to see him."

[commandant]

Mortus smiles.

"All weapons are dangerous, sir," she says.   "How expensive is expensive?"

[rufus sparkfire]

[Mortus]

The gunsmith shrugs. "Well, I've warned you. You go hurting yourself, it's not my fault. Now, moneywise I'm looking for 400 crowns the brace. Powder and shot for a dozen firings included."