Investigations in Stromdorf

Continuing from last time:

SPOILERS below!

Returning to Stromdorf  with their prize our lovable adventurers started by going to the town square and proclaiming themselves great heroes for slaying the foes of humanity! When trying to make some money by having people pay to view the hideous mutant didn't work out very well they decided to take the corpse the the city guard. They met captain Arno Kessler, a no-nonsens man who was more or less running the town since burghomeister Adler had turnet into a recluse. He heard them out, inspected the body to confirm it was indeed a mutant and agreed to pay a few silver as a reward. Then he asked to be left alone.

Having taken care of the loose ends from the Grünewald lodge the party thought it was time to give their attention to the case of the missing merchant, Florian Wechsel. However, it was getting late and first it was time for a good nights rest. After a short stop at the Thunderwater Inn they decided to stay at the slightly more reputable Stewpot Inn, run by the halfling Keila Cobblepot. Taking the opportunity to ask around it turned out that herr Wechsel had actually stayed at the inn just a fortnight ago. According to ms Cobblepot he'd left very early the morning after, leaving without his two bodyguards to, apparently, start a new life! The next morning they kept asking around town, talking to guards at the different gates as well as a few locals at the two inns. Among them Eduardo Rodrigues of Estalia who said that before he fell into a drunken sleep outside the Stewpot Inn that night two weeks ago, he'd heard the merchants cart pass by around midnight and he'd seen the two body guards head out north later in the morning. Something seemed fishy indeed...

One of the guards at the Nuln gate had also mentioned seeing the merchants cart pass by, but with a farmer named Reiner Holtz at the reins. So with this as their most promising lead the group decided to pay a visit to the Holtz farm! Talking to the locals they learnt that it was located near the Oberslecht, a great marshland to the south. They tried to get a local hunter named Franz Bieber to act as a guide, but when he wanted five silver for his troubles they quickly changed their minds. For one silver he pointed it out on a map for them though.

That afternoon the glory hounds set out for the Holtz farm. Only Hans Fleischman chose to remain in Stromdorf as he had some business to take care of and wanted to talk to the local Sigmarite priest. The journey took a couple of hours, all the while the rain falling hard and thunder rumbling overhead. Although the constant downpour obscured vision Heinrich suddenly made out a glow at the horizon. Moving closer they could see that the light came from a farm in flames! Dieter scouted ahead and soon called out for the others to join him. There wasn't much left to save as most of the farm had been reduced to rubble. On the ground all around the farm tracks from cloven hoves could be seen and they lead towards the Oberslecht looming in the distance. Mannfred also spotted another farm a bit further south and the party decided to investigate to see if the inhabitants perhaps knew what had happened here.

As the party approached they heard raised voices and Dieter again snuck up ahead to see what was going on.  A small group of people were gathered in front of the barn, clustered around two young men who were in a heated argument. One of them was dirty and blood spattered. He had a wild look in his his eyes and screamed "It was all your fault! They're dead because of you!". "My fault?!" the other one shot back "What did you think would happen when you stopped Tristan?". The shouting match continued and suddenly Dieter could see a knife glinting in the hand of Tristan! Before the situation turned bloody he decided to reveal himself and his companions to try and calm everyone down. With all eyes at the newcomers a huge bald man with dull, slow-looking eyes grabbed Tristan and made him let go of the knife.

After talking with Otto Holtz, head of the family, they learnt that their neighbours, the Eigels, had been attacked by beastmen just an hour before. Tristan Eigel was the only one to escape alive and for some reason he blamed the Holtz family. When asked about the merchants cart they said that Reiner had bought it fair and square but they seemed reluctant to actually show it or the white pony that had pulled it. Feeling that something was wrong our heroes put on the pressure. And when a crazy looking trollslayer and a wizard starts asking questions you better answer! Otto's wife Marie decided to reveal what was really going on; the two families had made regular offerings to the beastmen tribe in the Oberslecht for generations. This seemed to placate them and people around Stromdorf were left relatively unmolested. The Eigel family had decided that it was time for change however and had not put up the customary sacrifices last time.

The party members didn't really know what to make of this, but seemed to understand the farmer's situation and accept it as a necessary evil. Had the warrior priest been here it might have been another story though. Feeling that the adventurers were relatively open minded Marie decided to take a risk. She lead the group to the Hag Tree on the outskirts of the Oberslecht. This was obviously where the Holtz family made their offerings as the ground was covered by skeletal remains of... animals. She called out into the marshland and told the group to wait. After a short while a figure emerged from the mist. It didn't come close enough for them to make out many features, but it was wearing some kind of robe and clutched a staff. With a rasping voice it presented itself as Foaldeath...

Foaldeath told a story about the beastman tribe living in the Oberslecht, the Madteeth, and their leader Izka Madtooth. Although the tribe was normally satisfied with the offerings and only raiding infrequently, not too long ago Izka had found what he called the Lightning Stone; some kind of mysterious artifact that he believes gives him great powers. The stone attracts lightning and Izka views it as a sign from the gods for him to lead his tribe on a great crusade against the human blight. It won't be long until he leads a great horde towards the very city of Stromdorf! Foaldeath now asked for the adventurers help to deafeat Izka, or at least steal the Lightning Stone. He said that he'd be able to somehow take control of the tribe and turn them back onto their less warmongering path if this happened.

If it was because they had some glimmer of altruism within their hearts or simply because they saw gold and glory from slaying a beastman chieftan we will never know, but in the end the glory hounds decided to go along with Foaldeath's plan...


Next time: Into the Oberslecht