[WFRP 1e] The Gathering Storm 8

 All clues led back to the crypts under the Temple of Sigmar. The party went in to level with Gottschalk. They needed that stone. The Lector, however, thought the stone best remain under the temple. He trembled with fury. “Desecrating hold ground in search of a heathen idol! That is blasphemy! And from such as you, who seemed to know better!” The group then had to endure a long lecture about the sanctity of Sigmar’s temple.

At the inn Schulmann was insistent they search the temple crypt for the stone. He offered to provide a distraction. “That fool Gottschalk has his mind addled by incense. Let me deal with the old mule.” He also provided paper and charcoal. If nothing else, the party could get a rubbing.

Shortly thereafter, an aurora of shimmering rainbow colors lit up the sky. A crowd of Hobbly residents gathered in the market square, despite the rain, marveling at the wonderous sight. Lector Gottschalk headed out to the market. He saw the rainbow as an omen of doom, and urged the townsfolk to prayer.

The party headed to the crypts. They had to lever up the layer of stone slabs on the floor before they could dig into the soft earth beneath. But they were interrupted.

Chlodwig the initiate heard the noise from the crypts and came down to see what was going on. The party wasted no time dealing with the interruption. Caius threw a net and entangled the initiate. Rolf tackled the standing form to get him onto the floor. Then Nim stood over Chlodwig and hypnotized him into silence. Hektor and Kraft kept digging.

Fifteen minutes later a shovel struck stone. Cleaning around the stone, the party discovered a two foot high rectangular slab of white marble with silver elf runes etched into it. It shimmered and sparked with faint blue electricity. Zarkon described a vivid blue snake of light caressing the stone. He took a rubbing on the stone with charcoal on paper. He also took the stone. Then everything else went back where they found it…at least as much as was possible.

Chlodwig was left in the basement.

Zarkon and Caius took everything up to Schulmann’s room. The rest of the party waited innocently in the common room of the inn. Schulmann stopped his rainbow show.

Schulmann placed the last piece of the stone into the other fragments, then he grabbed a quill and a map of the region. He knelt down to examine the assembled map stone.

Holding an oil lamp close to the marble, Schulmann muttered to himself under his breath as he read the elven script in its entirety. While he examined the text, he jotted down notes on his map, drawing symbols and lines, mumbling to himself the whole time. Zarkon thought he heard something about “the nexus” and “even more powerful than I imagined.”

Finally, Schulmann stood, looked around absentmindedly, and said, “Oh, you’re still here.” Zarkon stated he wanted to stay with the stones in case something bad happened to Schulmann. Schulmann looked at Caius. “Yes. Indeed. Good idea. Well, I seem to have misplaced some of my notes about the translation. I think I left them downstairs in the inn. If you wish to stay with the stones, I’ll be right back.” Zarkon affirmed that he did not want to leave the stones out of his sight. Schulmann grabbed his staff and headed down to the common room.

In the common room, Hektor, Rolf, Kraft, and Nim watched Schulmann walk past them, wave, and walk out the front door. Not knowing what was going on, they sent someone up to check on Zarkon and Caius.

Zarkon felt justified in not fully trusting Schulmann. Nobody knew where the wizard was going, however, so they started searching his notes and maps. One map showed one of the rivers, with a certain bend circled by Schulmann’s pen. The riverbend is a few miles southwest of town.

Outside, a witness saw Schulmann cast a spell, and fly off as a streak of blue light toward the west. That info, plus the map, gave the party an idea of where the wizard was going.

At the west gate, a watch guard was picking himself up off the ground when the party arrived. When asked what happened, the guard said “That damned thieving wizard tried to murder me!” Another guard at the gate said that Schulmann cast a spell at the guard, stole a horse, and rode off like a demon was chasing him!

Chasing Schulmann toward the river, the party saw a flash of blue light on the river bank. They arrived at a rundown wooden hut beside the river. A man with a long grey beard and weathered face and clothes lied face up, dead eyes staring in shock at the grey sky. A hole punctured his chest, still smoking when the party found him. They also found and upturned row boat next to the hut. There were grooves and footprints on the riverbank where another boat had recently been pushed into the water.

The party took some time to bury the dead fisherman. Upriver, they saw flashes and sparks of magical lightning, lighting up the night. After a quick burial in a shallow grave, the party started rowing toward Schulmann.

Schulmann was standing in the stolen boat in the center of the river, blasting the dark waters with lightning that crackled from his outstretched hands and staff. They heard an earthshaking crack, like a mountain being split in two. The water around the boat churned and frothed as beams of pure blue energy broke the surface, illuminating Schulmann in an otherworldly glow. The sky above groaned with thunder, and lightning bolts ripped from the clouds. Rain pelted down in a biting torrent. The front of the party’s boat started to leak from an old, poorly patched hole.

Zarkon feared he had nothing to threaten the powerful wizard with. He also feared the sinking boat, and he jumped into the water so he wouldn’t be a target. Others bailed as water seeped in and the rain fell. Those with bows shot at the wizard, through wind and rain. It looked like Schulmann was raining destruction on the very river itself.

Schulmann took some hits from lucky arrow shots. The light faded from around his body. He screamed in pain and fell into the water with a splash. Everyone started looking around to see if anything had changed.

Schulmann thrashed to the top of the river, his face contorted in fear, his heavy wizard robes dragging him downward. He sunk below again, his staff bobbing in the current. He suddenly broke to the surface again, his features a mask of fury. In his hand he clutched one of the many amulets he wore around his neck, this one a golden comet.

“You have ruined everything! As I have foreseen, you have doomed us all! Now you will die with me!” The amulet glowed scarlet. Schulemann was dragged down into the water again, his glowing amulet sinking with him until it disappeared like a dying ember.

Through the clouds someone noticed a bright light part through, it was an enormous blazing rock, falling toward the earth, getting bigger and bigger with every passing second. Everyone paddled/swam/rushed like mad toward the riverbank.

The comet plummeted into the river, causing a tidal wave that blew out the river’s banks and threatened to dash the party to pieces. In the river, the comet exploded, sending shards of rock flying in all directions. Blue energy lashed out from the explosion, then there was a blinding flash of blue light.

Scarred, scraped, and deafened party members were washed onto various points in the fields surrounding the river. It took a lot of time to gather everyone together, take a headcount, and communicate with those who couldn’t hear.

Those who could hear eventually noticed that the thunder had stopped. Everyone could see that the rain had ceased. The sky began to clear, and the two moons could be seen in the sky. Mannslieb gleamed from behind the disappearing curtain of clouds. Morrslieb seemed to have a decidedly grumpy expression on its pockmarked face.