Journal Posts

Gabriel (Human, Male / Bountyhunter)

A noisy bar, just down the way from the café where Melody and Elsna sit. In a shadowy corner…

“Looking for work?” says a man in black and grey.

“Always,” says Gabriel.

“Picking is slim right now, but I’ve got something.”

“What? Coin is getting thin.”

“There is a barge going downriver in a few days. Making some stops, but will eventually hit Ubersreik. They need some muscle-”

“Pickings ARE getting slim…,” snaps Gabriel.

“Anyway we want to set you up as one of the protectors. Pays a gold going down to Ubersreik and we’ll throw 5 on top if you do some snooping around and let us know what’s in the shipment. The company would like to know. Maybe more if something comes up…as always.”

“Works for me. How will we make contact?”

“We’ll have some people at various ports you hit. You in?”

“In,” says Gabriel.

The man in black and grey stands up and disappears into the crowded bar.

To be continued...

A seedy bar. Not far from the café where Melody and Elsna sit. Beneath a butcher shop, under the streets of Nuln…

Drohawk (Dwarf, Male / Troll Slayer)

Drohawk sat nursing his ale with a few other miserable drunks. It was only noon. Except for himself, all the patrons were human. Drohawk didn’t notice, too absorbed with his own thoughts and miseries. Not until he heard a chair slide back and a human walk over did he even consider that others existed.

“Dwarf, can I sit here?”

“Dwarf! I’ve never seen hair like that! Is that (sniffs air) animal fat? You use that to get it so tall?” (snickering)

“Dwarf! Never seen anyone dress like you…the tattoos, what do they mean? (looks back at a table, another human sits there. The human palms a bag that clinks with coins.)

“Dwarf! I hear that only those who have been kicked out of dwarfholds wear their hair like-”

Drohawk grabs the man by the throat. “Go back to your table before I kill you.”

There is the click of a crossbow being loaded.
“Let him go,” says the barkeep. “I don’t need anything broken.”

“Go back to your table. Now,” and Drohawk released the man who crawled on hands and knees back over to his companion.

“Thank you,” said the Barkeep, putting away his crossbow. “I didn’t need anything broken.”
Drohawk went back to drinking.

Moments later a man enters. The man sits with Drohawk. He is an employee of Elsna Veit offering work as protection for a shipment going downriver.

“Will there be danger and violence,” asked Drohawk.

The man considered for a moment. “Best I say yes so that you’ll take this job right? Then yes.”

“I’m in,” replied Drohawk.

To be continued...

2521 I.C.
Jahrdrung (Year Turn)
23, Wellentag (Work Day)

Melody (Human, Female / Roadwarden)

The story opened with Melody awakening in a Shallyan temple in a wealthy section of Nuln. Her body weak and achy but she seemed to be whole though her memory of how she got there was spotty. Beside her sat a Shallyan priest, a round faced, jovial man. He filled in some of the gaps in her memory: the attack on her group of Roadwardens by beastmen(?), her horse falling upon her and the complete slaughtering of the group of Roadwardens except for herself and one other – whose mind was broken and his body left in a Shallyan sanitarium in the slums of Nuln, both being found by a militia unit and brought home to Nuln. He also read a note to her from her aunt, Elsna Veit.

"Dearest niece if you should awaken when I am not there, please contact me at your soonest convenience. Worry not the price of the Shallyans. I've paid them their full due. 168 gold coins. I look forward to seeing you soon and in good health once again."
~Your loving aunt, Elsna.

Melody readied herself and left the Shallyans to visit her aunt.

She finds Elsna at her main tavern, “The Purple Lady”. The tavern was closed but her aunt had an abode above. Melody was greeted warmly by Elsna and promptly bundled off to an outdoor café.

Rumor: It is rumored that Elsna Veit was at one point in time a member of the cult of Sigmar and fell from its graces for unknown reason. Since then she has become a known member of Nuln’s less reputable elite…

Aunt Elsna explained that she was thinking of relocating to Ubersreik and that she had business with some local nobles there – all who were seeking to become the new head of Ubersreik. She asked if Melody would help her with some deliveries (there and other locations along the rivers). She twisted the screw a little by mentioning the 168 pieces of gold she had to donate to the Shallyans to get Melody back from the brink of death and the fact that the Roadwardens, for some reason, blamed Melody for her units destruction…

Melody agreed to the little adventure.

To be continued…

"Be wary when you set out from the relative safety of your smug home, outside the palisades and fences protecting your town. What lies outside those walls is cruel and unforgiving. The area between towns and cities is little more than a seething mass of anarchy, violence, bandits, and beastmen. If you’re lucky, you’ll run into one of them at a time.... If you’re not, the next Warden to fill your boots will hear the same warning."

– Oscar Heilman, Roadwarden Captain.
Excerpt from a lecture to newly appointed wardens.