WHFRP Reboot Recap

8/10/07 Prologue

One fine night Dementis and his friends had stayed out late drinking. Having been kicked out of the bar but still being full of ale and good cheer they took a rather long way back to their circus tent. However, they came across a very peculiar site. A young emancipated man was taking various things out of his pockets while a city guard shouted at him.

This poor young lad looked as if he had no idea what was going on and may be touched in the head. Dementis was quick to tell the guard that this strange youth was actually a freak in their circus that bit the head off of rats. With this the guard quickly released the strange youth whose name it was later learned was Elrin.

Elrin ran with the circus for awhile. Now as you may know Iron Fist is the bear wrestle of the Floating World Circus… oh what? I didn’t mention that? I’m sorry I could have sworn I did. Anyway, one day the bear must have had an extra ration of spicy meat because this bear just gave it to Iron Fist what good. Now a doctor was going to be needed, as the bite on Iron Fist was a nasty one. Luckily there was a man in the audience who went by the name of Borobro the Carver. He went right to work on ol’Iron Fist with just a little bit of interference by Elrin who had actually saved Iron Fist by throwing shit on the bear. Elrin may be touched in the head but for some reason he seems to know when his lads are in trouble.

So Borobro ends up staying with the circus as a doc and a barber. And he did a fine job at both I should say.

So Elrin disappeared after that, not really sure where he went. As the circus kept up its travels the group encountered for the first time… the plague. An entire town, wiped out. Borobro, or as he likes to be called, Bro, went in there to investigate. He came back saying he’d never seen anything like it. Well we or uh... they traveled on and found a group of priests of Sigmar with a witch hunter! So after awhile they were free to go, had to make sure they weren’t carrying the horrible thing.

The troupe came across another dying group of people. This time however it ended up being an entire family! Well Borobro went to work on them as best he could. But they were too far gone; in return for a promise to bury them they gave the circus all their worldly goods. Borobro cleaned off what he could and well the circus took the items. Seems low doesn’t it? Times were hard then dear sirs and madams. And let me tell you they were buried proper and to this day I’ve not heard one ghost story coming from that area. You know that means their spirits are at rest.

So they continued on, and after having so many run ins with the plague they decided to hold up in a forest. But trouble found them, plague victims. Ripe with the disease and clearly driven mad. They seemed eager to spread the horrible thing. Borobro took one look and realized these people were beyond help. So the circus had to put them down. And who should show up to help? Well it was Elrin! Introduced himself by taking down one of the poor creature in one shot. Course not long after that he disappeared right back into the trees. An odd one that youth is, but skilled with a bow. And so as years passed Borobro and Dementis left the circus to make their own way. While sitting in a bar one night who should come in and sit down next to them? None other then Elrin! Looking much better the he ever had. Fed, clean, and not too crazy. Well as they sat there catching up on ol’times and just enjoying the tavern Elrin overheard two people talking. Something about an “it” and getting it somewhere. Well, Elrin, being Elrin, decided to enter himself into the conversation.

Before you knew it all three were involved in smuggling! Well I won’t go into details here, more because I hear all 3 can be quite harsh on those who leak their secrets, even heard they may have some other member... Needless to say I’m sure they are still smuggling right now! Making sure we can get those cheeses with-out them criminal taxes!

8/31/07 Pinched

The scene opens on our band of rogues making their way through some scenic foothills. Borobro drives a small cart laden with travelworn wooden crates, Dementis pipes a simple folks tune from the back, Elrin trots along on his trusty steed and Shang rides along silently, ever alert for danger. Movement is spotted in the brush lining the road ahead and the group comes to a stop and calls out to whoever hides in the brush to reveal themselves. A man emerges and proceeds to thank Dementis for his music and demand a toll on their wares for safe passage. Elrin swiftly slays him with two arrows before his speech is even finished and bandit arrows are soon darkening the air from an ambush alongside the road. Borobro and Dementis drive the cart out of the fighting to protect the goods while Elrin brings swift death to all his attackers, although not without suffering grave wounds in the process. Shang is not idle, and accounts for two bandits spitted like wild boars upon the point of his sword.

The group continues safely to an abandoned farmstead outside of Kreizhofen where Borobro pours some draughts down Elrin's throat to ease his pain, then goes with Dementis to meet Councilman Helmut Schwer. The pair soon find this to be a more difficult task then expected, and after about an hour of traveling the town, finally locate Schwer's house and attempt to either wake him or gain entrance. Accosted by Watchman Gottlieb, Dementis feigns drunkenness and leaves with him under pretenses of obtaining a spare key to the house and Borobro is instructed to remain where he is. Dementis cleverly distracts the watchman with a false alarm and stealthily returns to Schwer's house. Meanwhile, Borobro finds the door unlocked and carefully enters to find the dead body of Helmut Schwer, as well as a pair of mysterious notes. Borobro returns to the doorstep, careful to leave no hint of his entrance, and is re-accosted by another Watch patrol, this time a sergeant and watchman. After explaining his presence, Borobro is left under the watchful eye of Grolsch and soon sees Dementis returning. Dementis pounds on the councilman's door and forces it open. The group enters in and discovers the body, Dementis notices the notes and secrets them on his body before he and Borobro are placed under arrest for the murder of Councilman Schwer.

At the Watch barracks, Borobro gives a semi-truthful statement, leading the Watch to send a patrol to the farmstead where Elrin is sleeping under some hay. The Watch spots him and the crates and drags him out to be questioned. While Shang comes along quietly, Elrin makes a break for it near some woods and proceeds to both elude and stalk the patrol, killing his pursuer, then three others back at the farmstead. Elrin flees with the crates, but later abandons them when he has difficulty driving the cart, taking only some of the wine bottles inside. He also throws away a small tin containing a mysterious and foul-smelling black substance. Back at the Barracks, the Watch Captain, widely renowned for his unwavering morals, grills Dementis and Borobro and quickly establishes that while they are unlikely to have actually committed the crime, their whole story rings less than true. He has them spend the night in jail and soon sets them up at a pre-trial to have them work for him in finding out who the actual murderer is in return for sparing them their own trial.

We end with Borobro and Dementis working to gather rumors and leads, establishing with some certainty that the councilman was last seen around 3 days previous, and that the main suspects are Gunther Goldfahren and Eduard Wiessnicht. Dementis attempts to start the rumor that Hans is the actual culprit. Mysterious notes are also pocketed on Dementis by parties unknown appearing to invite the group to a party down at the docks. Rumor establishes this as the kick-off party for the Black Shepherds competition, a well-known smuggling event to establish reputations and positioning for the coming year, thrown by Gunther Goldfahren, self-proclaimed 'Smuggler King'. Helmut Schwer and been planning on sponsoring the characters as a means to expand his own network of contacts, as he had recently broken away from Goldfahren. The scene ends with Dementis and Borobro carefully plotting their next move, and Elrin wandering about the woods outside Kreizhofen.

OR.....
Elrin Hwai What a beautiful day. The sun is high in the sky. Out for a ride with my friends and look, a bird! Good old Silver, she's been my trusted friend for years now and she lets me ride on her back. And who's that guy stepping out of the woods? talk talk talk something, take our stuff? Well, OK Dementis, if you say so....and he's down. that was easy. Oh, more of them! ouch. a little help here? why is Dementis hiding? Ouch! and Bro just leaving us behind, Silver?YOUCH!

bleeding, must patch it up, damn, not so good. try again later, maybe Bro will help me, he's a doctor or something. no? climb into the cart....hide....bleeding. cart's bumpy, it hurts the arrow hole in my leg a lot at every bump. why won't Bro stop and help me? ouch, still bleeding. wipe it off, i feel faint. Now it's almost dark, there's a barn and we're stopping. hide myself, there's a pile of hay, get underneath, hide.

Finally, Bro helped me, bleeding stopped and where are they going? I'll just hide here. Silver likes the hay. yawn.

Who's that? how did they find me? It's the watch and we've got bad things in the cart and they're into them. They take me away but won't let me take Silver! They said they were going to pound her! Get away. run. he's still following. ha! he can't see me in the dark, I'll just ... one.... two. easy pickins. and he's got shiny! back to get Silver. Won't let them take my friend. Just two? they're so slow, lost one in the woods. go back for Silver. that one shot at me! he's dead now. the other one! ha! thought you had a pretty face, but now it's a ruin!

Dementis said the cart had illegal stuff, I should hide it. but it's so slow going. gotta hide myself. let the cart horse go, it's only nice for it. ooooohhh! good wine. I'll take that. and that. and that. maybe something better in here? that looks neat, black and shiny. now, run! Hi ho Silver! Away!