[WFRP 2e] Renegade Princeps Interlude 4.5

(Interludes are a place for me to note everything that happened in play-by-post between Hangout sessions.)

Note: I have renumbered the interludes to correspond to their "between sessions" status.

My character
Vaervenshyael - Female Elf Protagonist

My companions

Tankred "Silver Bear" Tenneckermann - Human Mercenary Leader

Wilhelm Hechland - Human Engineer

Doctor Johann Wilhelm Woeller - Barber-Surgeon, ex-Student
Van Duster - Human Mercenary NPC with Tracking skills

(Previously in the adventure)

The barren scrublands west of Padua

GM: On horseback, the heroes follow the trail of two contract thieves headed north into the lands of the Robber King, Sulzer.

V: "It's good to get away from the prince and his master of the pony. I'm not convinced they really know what they are doing here."

Doc: "You did not see what I saw! They can speak to the dead through their freshly-spilled blood! If only I could find the link, all the Morrian said in response is that it was his 'faith' that gave him the power, but i'm sure there is more to it than that. This would be the work of a lifetime, a chance to prove my hypothesis! There is much work to be done..."

It is at this point that the good Doctor began to fall into self-directed mumbling, and they heard the words "soul," "blood," and "Morr," and they weren't sure but they thought they heard the words "expendable," and "bodies." Possibly in that order.

T: "They pay the bills, and for now that is good enough for me and mine. You'd be surprised how hard is is to find a minor noble that pays his bills."

V: "We will probably have to work extra hard to ensure they remain around to keep paying the bills. Unless we could find an elf willing to run the place."

T: "Never heard of a knife-ear running anything. Though I did see some kind of elf wizard once when I was a kid. Had these crazy body guards with these beautiful 2-handed swords. His guards all died in the war, though."

W: "I don't like the Master of the Pony, but I think the Princeps is doing a fine job! But imagine... A cannon made out of this Gromril metal. With the significant weight reduction I can make them portable! Imagine, a wagon with a canon sticking out the front, rolling towards the enemy and blasting them into pieces!

"Or perhaps... A cannon mounted to a Knight's shoulder!!!!" Wilhelm began sketching out a Bazooka. (It's probably a good thing that he has no idea how to smelt Gromril.)

Johann's excited murmurs began to calm down, though not before the words "Tomes" and "temple" and "library" were uttered. After his episode, he came to once more and latched on to Tankred's words.

Doc: "The Storm of Chaos. I remember that time. It was dark, and it seems that any meaningful scientific pursuit stopped after that war. Brilliance is now madness, curiosity dangerous, knowledge forbid-"

For those who looked, Johann had an uncharacteristically dark expression about him for a fleeting moment before he seemed to catch himself. His face and tone shifted sharply, and with his usual oddly charming smile he lightly asked, "Tell me, Wilhelm, how was your time at Altdorf? I find myself suddenly curious about your impressions of the great University."

The engineer did not respond, caught up as he was in the chase and his own musings.

GM: Van Duster's pace with his horse was erratic in the late afternoon autumn sun. He spent most of his time in the saddle staring down at the scrub-covered ground. His horse hopped and crab skipped as Van sought to follow the trail of the two thieves.

"Thieves" was a convenient label for the two vagrants that wandered into Padua-on-Avon and more recently made a hasty exit, yet leaving the body of a friend on the sawdust floors of an inn.

The last three hours raised the ire that the pursuit was falling far behind.  Though the general direction of the "thieves" was known, the trail threatened to grow cold as the shadows lengthened with each hour.

"I have them!" Van exclaimed, reining his horse to a halt and turning to the party and trotting to his position.

"Forgive me, it's tough in this sandy, dry soil to find the trail, but someone was bound to take a piss and try to cover it." Van pointsed to the caked soil near some scrub grass. "It's going to get cold tonight. They'll have to stop. If we're lucky they'll be dumb enough to light a fire and well spot it on the horizon. We should ride toward them though. I've got their trail, but I fear I've also given them another hour or two."

V: "You said we could catch them in a couple hours. Perhaps you humans enjoy larger couples than elves." The elf was hardly impressed at how long the "quick" pursuit was taking.