[WFRP 3e] Torendir - Eye for an Eye Part 2

[Note: There are spoilers below. Beware if you think you may play this adventure in the future.]

Inside the gates we were met by armed guards and escorts. These humans seemed to have no trouble believing the story that we were just hired porters, regardless of the carnage we just left outside the lodge’s gate. Apparently humans believe all elves and dwarves are capable of such talented displays of battle. They are wise in this one regard.

The man Vern Hendrick led us to the lord of the manor, Rickard Aschaffenberg. He was a jovial, welcoming human, large as a bear, and wearing an ermine robe that one would think he caught for himself.  The lord led us on a tour of the house and offered to let us have the rest of the night off from our job as porters in order to recover from the battle outside the gate. In reality, he wished us to spend this extra time getting to know the staff and investigating them unobtrusively. He invited us to dinner later that night, at which time we could give him our initial observations of the staff. He told us dinner would consist of goose, raised on the grounds, or venison which he had shot himself in the forest. Already feeling a bit unsettled about the grounds due to what I had heard from Hendrick, what the lord had told us, and what I shall relate next, I chose the venison.

During the tour there was one human in the clothing of a manservant who seemed to be following us around. He managed to find himself in whatever room we were in, dusting already immaculate pieces of decoration or straightening works of art which were not crooked. The man had a bandaged head and a bandaged right arm. We asked Vern Hendrick about this manservant later to find he was the steward of the house. He is called by the name Gregor Pearson. All of my training in observation warned me that there is something greatly wrong with this man, probably evil. It would not surprise me to find out in the end that he is at the center of the strange goings on in this lodge.

It is appropriate to note now that Gregor Pearson was not the only human we had met at this point who was bandaged up. The one who hired us, Vern Hendrick, also attempted to hide an injured left hand when we first met him. He was not able to hide this injury from us for long once we started transport, but he tried nonetheless. When I asked Hendrick about Pearson, I was told that the steward suffered injury during a beastman attack a few weeks back. I needed to visit the holding’s physician for some of my wounds, so I stored this information to ask about later.

Stedd and I were directed to the lodge’s makeshift hospice where we met doctor Steiger and Sister Sonja. The doctor is a self-important fellow currently treating an injured dwarf and two injured house guards. All were said to be hurt in the previously mentioned beastman attack on the grounds.

 

The doctor was convinced to look at my wounds and gave me a concoction to drink to aid in my healing. I must admit that I felt completely renewed after imbibing. While the doctor seemed good at his trade, there were things about him that made me suspicious. First, the human has a strange aroma about him, like passing through a decomposing glade. I am not sure why he should smell of vegetation when I do not believe he is an herbalist. Secondly, when I asked the doctor about Gregor Pearson’s injuries, the doctor stated that Gregor was a “great man.” Since my intuition tells me Gregor Pearson is anything but, I find it difficult to trust the doctor’s assessment and therefore the doctor himself. Thirdly, when Stedd asked about the injured dwarf, it was indicated he was mumbling incoherently due to some type of traumatic head injury. Later on when speaking to the priestess Sonja we learned that this may not be the case.

Stedd interacted gently and circumspectly with the Sigmar priestess, Sister Sonja, and she soon took him into her confidence. This amazed me to no end, as I was not aware dwarves could act in such a manner. I wanted to be sure to relate this to you for further consideration.

Sister Sonja indicated to us that something sinister and depraved is going on in this lodge. The workers here are acting completely differently than they did years, if not mere months, ago. She requested that we walk her to her shrine, all the while confiding her suspicions to us.

Stedd noticed that the iconic warhammer the priestess hung in her shrine was not a representation of the famed hammer of Sigmar but was a different dwarf-forged hammer. The priestess told that she was hiding it by the injured dwarf’s request, though she wasn’t sure from whom.  Finally, at the end of our interview when I asked directly about which she would choose for dinner, the goose or the venison, she warned us, in no uncertain terms, against anything raised on the lodge’s grounds.