SHADOWS IN THE MIST CHAPTER 2

Episode 2.3 –

Day 9 Springwane 1165

‘Is this it?’ Nilarnia looked at the four people, three men and one women sat at the table. Olm brought some drinks over and looked expectantly; Nilarnia frowned and threw two silvers across the table.

‘We are the militia, yes.’ The woman spoke. She wore leather armour and carried a dagger and a short bow. ‘I am Lula.’

‘Torney,’ said the man next to her. He too wore leather armour but carried a spear.

‘Tetris,’ said the next man, also armed with a spear. ‘I don’t think we should leave the village undefended. We were hired to defend the village.’

‘Emdor.’ The man wore leather armour, carried a dagger and a short bow.

He door opened and Gamekeeper Vike entered, a longbow slung over his back.

‘I will be coming with you. I don’t think we can count on any further help.’

Olm looked up. ‘Don’t look at me – I’m not a fighter. Sturkas would have been a big asset but … well.’

Nilarnia looked up and remembered about Sturkas. He used to wear a suit of rusty chainmail. He wasn’t buried in it, so it must still be at the house. She went back to the house, Olm and Vike went with her.

When they arrived, there was a light spilling from the open door. Inside was Perko, crying and hunting round the floor with a lantern. His ring finger was missing – severed cleanly.

Olm laughed. ‘Loon’s cut his own finger off!’

Nilarnia swung and punched Olm full in the mouth – he flew backwards into the wall.

‘Never say that in my hearing! He is under my protection!’

Olm struggled to his feet, fear in his eyes. ‘I will spread the word,’ he mumbled through swelling lips. ‘Perko, she is yours.’

‘She?’ Nils did a double take, looked at Perko’s hand and remembered that Toorkman took the fingers of his female victims.

There was a hidden closet in the bedroom with the chainmail armour and a bag of nine silver coins. Nils handed the coins to Perko and turned to Olm.

‘ You will look after her until I return.’

The chainmail was in a closet behind the broken statue to Heme, it was rusted as befitted the Church. Nils tried it on, it fitted fairly well. There was also a cloak, she considered this but then discarded it. *

Afternoon

They assembled by the south gate; Tetris was nowhere to be seen. Nilarnia led them off to the north-west, to where she had encountered Toorkman. There were tracks, several booted feet and the occasional drag mark.

Nils tracked the prints into the woods where they came across a hill fort – three mottes linked by a wall of spiked logs. A gate was in the south wall, inside was a court with several tents and a wooden house. Some observation showed there were sentries on the mottes.

They hid in the undergrowth some distance away and observed what was going on. The gate was partially ajar, the guards carried spears and one had an alarm horn. There also looked to be sentries on the top of the mounds.

‘Vike. You and Lula scale the east hill and take out the guards. We will approach the gate, say we are here for Toorkman and bluff our way through, taking them out if we have to.’

They waited until dusk and Vike and Lula scaled the eastern motte. They took out the two sentries but not before the alarm was raised. Nilarnia, Torney and Emdor rushed the gate and took down one guard but the other escaped wounded. Realising the element of surprise had been lost they retreated, Lula was shot and killed by a bowman from one of the other hills. Nils ran to the body and grabbed her bow and quiver of arrows. They retreated to the woods.

Toorkman led a sortie of raiders out looking for them, they split up with Torney and Emdor heading back to the Hollows whilst Nils and Vike retraced their steps and climbed back up the motte. There was a sentry on the opposite mound, Nils took careful aim and took them out with a superb shot. In the failing light they looked over the inner courtyard, they saw Gilina, and Mrs Pollmor being dragged out of the house and dumped into a pit off to one side. There looked to be only three bandits in the camp, one of them wounded from the fight at the gate. Nils and Vike charged down the mound and made short work of the bandits, although they both took minor wounds. They dragged Gilina and Mrs Pollmor out of the slurry pit, Gilina was alright, but Mrs Pollmor was dead, drowned. Nilarnia looked searchingly at Gila, who just shrugged.

On the way back to the Hollows they found the bodies of Torney and Emdor, skewered to trees by the side of the trail. They heard noises in the distance but made it back to the Hollows, barred the gates and roused the village. However, there was no attack. Gilina jumped in the river to get clean. Nilarnia noticed that she was missing her ring finger.

Aftermath

There was a meeting called by Olm and Yawim at the Chapel. Yawim is declared new head of the village. Everyone seemed to be in full agreement. Yawim declared an opening up of trade to other villages. Nilarnia and Gilina were hailed as champions of the village and granted the house to live in.

‘Gila. Tell me in truth. Did you kill Mrs Pollmor?’ Gilina turned on her most charming smile. ‘Nils. You are the trained assassin. If you couldn’t do it, then I certainly couldn’t.’

End of Chapter 2

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GM notes

* The cloak might  have been magical, but Nilarnia had no way of knowing.

Experience: 2 XP each

Gilina: XP 5. Spend 5 to get Melee 1/ XP: 0

Nilarnia: XP 8. Spend 5 to get Marksmanship 1 and 3 to get Sharpshooter 1/ XP: 0

An interesting series of sessions, I’m not sure really what happened ( the characters ran off and did their own thing – curse you reaction tables and Mythic 2GME!)

LIMINAL 18/07/2023

Case HAD 01 – Shadows of Lye

Episode 1

Nightingale and Ashley reported to DCI Amanda Stephens, head of SCD9 (Mercia) at Halesowen police station. The DCI looked at Ashley and sighed – it was hard to believe that the child standing before her was at least nineteen years old.

‘There’s been a body found in a back street in Lye. Something odd about it so the local Inspector called it in, and it was flagged up to us.’ She pointed at Ashley. ‘Collect a car from the pool but I don’t care how old you really are, you’re not to drive.’

Lye, Stourbridge

The body was in a back street, cordoned off. It was a middle-aged woman, badly burned by chemical burns. Chalked on the wall next to the body was “SUFFER THE WYCH TO BURN.” On a nearby patch of grass were tyre tracks.

A check with CCTV showed a Toyota van driving out of the alley and heading off towards Stourbridge.

A witness came forward, he had called the police. His name was Marcus Thompson and he lived in a one-room flat over the High Street. He saw a shadowy figure drawing the message and called the police. This really didn’t stand up and, after further questioning and the threat of arrest for growing weed in his window box, he came clean. The murder site was not visible from his flat, he had been out looking for her. They knew each other, her name was Emily and she had called him yesterday to say she needed a place to stay. She sounded frightened. He rounded the corner, and the van nearly knocked him down. He didn’t clock the driver.

Dr Reynolds, forensic pathologist at Russells Hall Hospital (and a consultant to SCD9) confirmed that the woman had died from severe chemical burns. It was ironic really; the stuff was sodium hydroxide also known as caustic soda. The old name for it was lye.

More questioning of Thompson (Ashley can be quite intimidating for a nine-year old, she’s actually a nineteen-year old necromancer who was trapped in a Ghost Realm for ten years,) revealed that Emily’s name was Emily Mitchell. Armed with this knowledge, Ashley summoned up Emily’s spirit. They learnt that the killer might have been Robert or Charles Astley (who?) and that she had a sister called Lydia.

Lydia Mitchell lives in Selly Oak, near to the hospital. She hadn’t spoken to Emily for over twenty years – they were estranged. Their mother always said that Emily was “off with the fairies”, Lydia was the more practical and down-to-earth, she was the one who had to take care of mother and sort out the finances. They asked if Lydia had a boyfriend, she did, he works at Selly Oak Jobcentre. Nightingale found a picture of Lydia, Emily and their mother standing by a house with a river and waterfall in the background.  Further inquiries showed their alibis checked out; they were nowhere near Lye that night. *

A call into HQ revealed that CCTV showed the van, a Toyota, heading round Stourbridge ring road and heading towards Wordsley. The number plate showed the van was registered to Emily Mitchell, The Stour House, Wordsley. They spoke to someone who was leaving the Crystal leisure centre that night – he remembered the van because it ran the crossing lights on red. He didn’t see the driver.

The next day they drove out to the Stour Hose. It was the same as they had seen in the photo, set back from the lane and surrounded by trees. The River Stour ran behind it, with a natural waterfall. ** All very pleasant.

To be continued …

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GM notes

This is a Game of Liminal that I am running for Evie and Imi, the two older grandchildren. Imi is a young child who was trapped in a Ghost Realm for ten years, she learnt Necromancy but when she returned to the normal world she appeared ten years younger

Evie is a Fae, a Changeling who is searching for a magical object that was stolen from court of the Fae Queen Selene Thornwood. Her name changes depending on the day of the week.

The girls are loving it and getting into it. I did warn them that were horror elements, they thought this was great and they have far more gruesome imaginations than I have. I blame My Little Pony.

* Evie and Imi seem to work on the premise “guilty until proved innocent and then they probably did it anyway.”

** I say natural waterfall because, along its length through the Black Country, the Stour has had many sluices, weirs and waterwheels constructed along it, to power different industries. All of them long gone, but the traces can still be seen.

Shadows In The Mist Chapter 2

Episode 2.2 – The Enemy Never Follows the Plan

Day 5, Springwane 1165

‘Can we use Sturkas’ house?’ Gilina was at her most charming, but Mrs Pollmor was not impressed.

‘ You have not yet done the job for me. The dwarf Yawim still trades and blows his nose at me. His wherries are loading and will sail soon.’

‘We will burn them in three days – the night before they are due to sail. They will be loaded, and it will do the most damage.’

‘I will hold a reception at the Longhouse that night – I cannot be seen to be involved.’

‘That sounds an excellent ides,’ smiled Gilina.

Meanwhile – many leagues away, a messenger enters an audience hall. She bows and hands a scroll to the robed figure. *

‘So. Sir Random is dead. Vecsis, what do you know of this?’

‘Sir Random was calling on Brother Sturkas, at a heathen place called the Hollows. Sturkas said he had found clues to an artefact.’ Vecsis was a rabbity little man, forever clutching an armful of scrolls and parchments.

‘Sturkas. I know him. We fought together at Hesar’s Ford against the Foul-touched. He will get to the bottom of this. I can leave the matter safely in his hands.’

Day 6, Springwane 1165

Sturkas’ house was on the western edge of the village, near to the wall. As Nils and Gila approached they saw that the door was open. Drawing their weapons they moved forward, to be greeted by Perko. His hands and face were sticky, coated in honey, which he was scooping out of a stone jar. Nils noted that the jar has a Skull Bee motif on it. They explored the house, it was quite spartan. They knew Sturkas has been a soldier as well as a Rust Brother and it was kept tidy in military precision. In the bedroom was a shrine to Heme, hanging from one of the “arms” was a gold circlet. Gila claimed it and then broke the statue into several pieces.

For some reason, this made Nils feel uncomfortable.

Day 7, Springwane 1165

They discussed the plan. Nils would burn the boats whilst Gila went to the reception at the Longhouse. She would invite Mrs Pollmor to watch the burning from Sturkas’ house, where Toorkman’s raiders would take her prisoner.

Day 8, Springwane 1165 – Evening

Nilarnia crossed the bridge and slipped into the docks. The ‘Three Skulls’ was doing its usual good business, Nils paused to listen – it seemed they had a guest bard singing. From across the river at the Longhouse came similar noise – Mrs Pollmor’s reception was in full swing.

There was a guard on the jetty, but Nils was easily able to sneak past him and onto the boats. She spread the lamp oil around and then struck a spark from her flint. The oil caught and the flames spread; a wind had risen, and the fire was spreading to other boats in the docks. Nils evaded the panicked watchman again and returned over the bridge to the house.

The house was in disarray, with signs of a fight. There was no trace of Mrs Pollmor or Gilina. Nils was just considering her next move when there came a banging at the door. It was Tolme, the fisherman.

‘Those bastard raiders have burnt my fine boat. I demand justice. We go and hunt them down.’

Outside, there were several booted prints leading towards the west wall, along with  traces that  one or more people had been dragged along.

‘Wait Tolme. We need to assemble some troops. Who leads the militia and where do they meet?’

‘Mrs Pollmor was the leader and they met at the ‘Dead Man’s Hand.’

‘Let’s go.’ Nilarnia rang the bell and said the words, then headed for the Inn.

To be continued ….

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GM Notes

Although a lot happened, this was actually a really straightforward series of sessions (over three nights.)

* Random Event – Remote Event – Yieldingly/ Watery – Does not want to get involved and leaves it to Brother Sturkas to sort out

 Already I am forming a mental picture of this person; it is likely they will become a major player. Obviously they are a Rust Brother, probably someone high up in the hierarchy.