[actual play] Iron Kingdoms - Adamantine Will

Episode 2 : Witchfire - The Longest Night - Part 3




Darcey drew her pistol and fired, splintered the brick of the chimney stack as the sniper ducked for cover. Gregore pushed Darcey to cover as the assassin fired back, the shot hitting the wooden crates behind them. Darcey fired again, giving cover Gregore, who had stormed over to the building and leapt up onto the wagon and lower roof nearby. Again the sniper fired, trading shots with Darcey. The sniper turned ready to fire at Gregore just as Darcey placed a well aimed shot in his chest. Gregore clambered up and face the man, kicking aside his gun. He had no fight left in him, and so Gregore bound him lowered him from the roof.

At the cathedral Gregore and Darcey had slung the assassin in the cells reserved for the Order of Illumination. Priests had tended to the man's wounds, and they were soon joined by Brother Eckert and Investigator Hurst. Gregore, Hurst and Eckert went into the cell to question the man. Gregore tried to do a softly softly approach, but the killer just laughed, finding little intimidating. Hurst, masked by his alchemist garb, set his bag on the table, and with some theatrics, mixed up a variety of frothing, bubbling agents. Nothing that could harm a man, but that obviously made the hired gun sweat in fear.

The man had had enough, he answered Hurst's questions as best as he could. He told them the person who had hired them had just given them a note and the money, with the promise of more later. The person had been masked, and all the killer could recall was the pocket watch he had. Hurst recognised the description as being that of a watch given to Corvis University lecturers after 5 years of service. The gold coins paid to the killer were also similar to what Hurst had recovered before. They all bore the wrong date, 604 AR, rather than 602 AR.

The next morning Hurst melted down the weirdly corroded, apparent forged, coins. But he found their chemical composition matched that expected for the gold alloy used by Cygnar for their coins. Gregore, wanting further confirmation took one of the coins to one of the major banks in the city, where the coin was treated as a forgery, a rather imperfect one.

Darcey went to visit the vicarage of Father Dumas, hoping to find Alexia, hoping that the young girl can tell her more about the death of her mother. Alexia invited Darcey in, and together they sat next to the warm fire and talked. Alexia explain that as far as she was concerned her mother was a good woman, and that she had been unjustly killed. Alexia seemed to harbour some distrust of those in power, especially the Magistrate Borloch. She admitted that her mother may have been a witch, but that she was not a bad person. Darcey seemed convinced, but noted that Alexia was somehow tired looking.




The troupe gathered together their things and rode out of the city and north east, to the tomb of the coven. The journey was 2 hours through misty, swampy, and heavily wooded ground. They eventually came upon the old Orgoth scouting post, and they gingerly moved closer. They found that the heavy granite doors to the tomb were shattered. The doors were engraved, and Eckert could make out the symbol of the Orgoth Empire - the leering face on a field of stars - and the etched warding runes. The group lit their lanterns and headed in. The cleared each chamber, checking for signs of recent activity. There was clearly something going on in the tomb, as there were relatively fresh fire pits. The eventually found what had been the mess hall for the station. In the dank room again there were signs of occupation. There were gnawed bones and scraps of metal and cloth. The fire place had also seen some use.

They had come to a crossroad, and so Darcey set up a position from which she could fire, while the others investigated the narrow passageway through the rock. They found a number of rooms, but as Gregore and Eckert headed onwards, Hurst took a different route. Eckert looked back and called for Hurst, but he could just make out the light from his lantern. Eckert of course had invoked the blessings of Morrow and could see in the dark - runes of power were glittering across his eyes. Gregore found another three chambers, and so investigated the one ahead of him. He found a rocky chamber, and within a Gobber skeleton. It was less than a week old. Eckert came to examine it, using his staff to poke at the body, which then disturbed the strange carnivorous fungus that reached down with tendrils and lifted the corpse up. Eckert and Gregore backed away, now paranoid about what may lie in wait on the ceiling of the tomb.

Gregore and Eckert headed back down the passage way and checked the chamber they had passed, and found what must of been the forge. Here they found footprints on the muddy floor, which were certainly the prints made by the feet of Gobbers. Darcey had come to find them here, and together then went looking for Hurst.

Hurst had discovered a large cavern, in which was a pool, a sandy shoreline, a boat, and crystal clear water. Hurst could see that the flor dropped away dramatically, and that in the sand there were gold coins and a dagger. He could also make out the form of a squid lying in wait. Hurst however was greedy. In the boat he found more signs of recent activity, and a long pole with a wicker basket at the end. With this he could scoop out the coins and dagger. He punted out onto the water with the boat and started to dredge the sandy pool floor. He got a few coins out, noting their age and that they had been minted during the Orgoth occupation. He desperately tried to get the dagger, but it fell out of the basket. The others then arrived in the chamber to watch what Hurst was doing, somewhat dumbfounded by the entire act. Hurst scooped up the dagger once more, and just as he plucked it out of the basket, the squid violently attacked. The water bubbled, and the huge tentacles grappled the boat, seeking to throw Hurst into the water. Darcey fire off a shot with her rifle, as Brother Eckert invoked the power of Morrow, sending shimmering beams at the beast. Injured, it slinked off into the dark of the pool.

Hurst made it back to shore, and showed them his loot. Darcey saw the whole act as some sort of fools errand, tossing one coin back into the pool, hoping to placate the dark forces at work. Hurst was more pleased with his haul, and found the dagger was of Orgoth make, a black steel with copper inlaid. Gregore insisted they go back to deal with the fungus, and is a moment of exasperation Eckert smacked both me about the head, reminding them they had the work of the church to do.

As they made their way back down the winding route thought the rock, they could hear voices up head. A gibbering - Gobbers. Eckert called for silence, and so with the route clear, Hurst went ahead finding that the Gobbers had gone into the mess hall. There were 6 in all, and they were arguing, while one was trying to light a fire. The group burst in on the Gobbers, reasoning that surprise would hopefully stop any fight. The Gobbers coward under tables, as the group demanded to know what had happened. The leader of the Gobbers went on to explain that they had only come here as it was dry and safe, and they had their own way in. They had fled wen the main door had been torn apart by the 'girl girl with the dead things'. That was a day ago. The Gobber, hoping he had saved his skin and that of his gang, then asked for 10 gold crowns. They gave him 7 and said that they would go look at the tombs. The Gobbers mentioned that they had never ventured in there. They feared it.

The group moved on, passing one room where they found another goblin. The small fellow seemed shocked as he looked up from his fire, with Gregore simply saying sorry and shutting the door.

The group found that the passageway once more forked. They took the winding passage to their left and found another chamber with a pool and shackles on the wall. It was a torture chamber, and in the pool were the slimey, half decayed remains of humans the Orgoth had tortured a thousand years ago. Hurst then noted that there was fresh red candle wax on the floor...