Down into the cesspit of doom
Our adventurers do not have the luxury of time, they cannot take a breather and let the past events sink in. They gather at breakfast to discuss their options. From the letters they found last night at the home of Gottfried Geubbels, (A.K.A. Gottfried van Wittgenstein!), they gather that there seems to be some sort of secret laboratory hidden beneath the city. The reference to the lizard in the letters rings a bell with Mandred and Gotrak, who encountered a six legged giant specimen on the first day they entered the city. But, before they are ready to continue planning, Lothar, the new champion joins them at the table, he is immediately informed that there is a packet for him.
The owner of the Crossed Pikes gives Lothar an ornate chest, that after careful inspection by the Vogel brothers, should be safe. Lothar is shocked to his core as he opens it to reveal... The head of his sister Najjia Kaloffi! The new champ can barely contain his rage and interventions by Ottfried or Gotrak have little effect on the stricken arabian. Whether this is a response to Lothar's refusal of joining the arabian delegation, a revenge of Mr. Gouda or a blowback of the events of the night before is unknown but the crew suspects the arabians and, while lamenting the death of Lothar's sister, some voice their opinion that she was too rash and -sort of- had it coming.
Abel has a message as well, he is invited by The Man to join him for dinner, he is to make contact his usual agent (Mr. Schnellgeist).
The owner of the Crossed Pikes gives Lothar an ornate chest, that after careful inspection by the Vogel brothers, should be safe. Lothar is shocked to his core as he opens it to reveal... The head of his sister Najjia Kaloffi! The new champ can barely contain his rage and interventions by Ottfried or Gotrak have little effect on the stricken arabian. Whether this is a response to Lothar's refusal of joining the arabian delegation, a revenge of Mr. Gouda or a blowback of the events of the night before is unknown but the crew suspects the arabians and, while lamenting the death of Lothar's sister, some voice their opinion that she was too rash and -sort of- had it coming.
Abel has a message as well, he is invited by The Man to join him for dinner, he is to make contact his usual agent (Mr. Schnellgeist).
Descent into the Undercity
Before they depart, Otfried sends a letter to Yorri XV, the grand Theogonist of Sigmar in Altdorf, detailing his visions and omens and the events during the carnival.
On their way to the temple of Grugni, the group spots a chained Dezur Darkforge, accompanied by about 10 City Watch, Otfried asks them what is going on and their captain tells him Dezur is being suspected of murdering the Chairman of the Kommision of Trade and Taxation, Gotthard Geubbels! However, once the guards spot Gotrak, two remain behind to trail them. Without even doing the slightest effort of ditching their trail, the heroes enter the Temple of Grugni.
High priest Thordazim welcomes them, and informd them things have become dire in the undercity, he warns them to be careful. The last expedition into the tunnels did not come back and the Priest is worried about the heroes safety. Blessings and spells are cast as preparation and the heroes enter the lift into the deep (see session 18 for further details).
Below, the standard guards have been replaced with heavily armoured versions wearing tower shields with mounted crossbows on them and heavy axes. Sure enough, after only walking five minutes, the band encounters large rats, the size of small, but vicious dogs. These, of course are obliterated with ease.
On their way to the temple of Grugni, the group spots a chained Dezur Darkforge, accompanied by about 10 City Watch, Otfried asks them what is going on and their captain tells him Dezur is being suspected of murdering the Chairman of the Kommision of Trade and Taxation, Gotthard Geubbels! However, once the guards spot Gotrak, two remain behind to trail them. Without even doing the slightest effort of ditching their trail, the heroes enter the Temple of Grugni.
High priest Thordazim welcomes them, and informd them things have become dire in the undercity, he warns them to be careful. The last expedition into the tunnels did not come back and the Priest is worried about the heroes safety. Blessings and spells are cast as preparation and the heroes enter the lift into the deep (see session 18 for further details).
Below, the standard guards have been replaced with heavily armoured versions wearing tower shields with mounted crossbows on them and heavy axes. Sure enough, after only walking five minutes, the band encounters large rats, the size of small, but vicious dogs. These, of course are obliterated with ease.
The Lizard
It takes a while, but thanks to Mandred previously making the way they went, The adventurers finds their way back to the large underground hall with the lake and the six legged lizard. The first thing they notice is that the cavern is filled with corpses, both of Skaven as of Dwarfs. The lizard has grown exponentially. A dwarf leg is dangling out of his mouth as the heroes enter. The creature still has a collar around it's neck inscribed with vile symbols. Mandred, who has been studying the dark arts, is able to read it. Much to the horror of his companions he utters the power words of the vile tongue. The six legged creature is enthralled by them, listening to Mandred and obeying his commands.
The adventurers climb on its back and after several tries of giving it orders it might understand, it dives into the underground lake. It takes them to an underground mooring room. The place is littered with corpses, all of them quite pale. They have two distinct puncture wounds in their neck.
These corpses are clearly members of The Purple Hand, distinguishable by their tattoo on their chest and mutations. Felix informs them about vampires and about what to do to prevent the dead from rising. Before chopping them up, Mandred searches the bodies and finds a map.
The adventurers climb on its back and after several tries of giving it orders it might understand, it dives into the underground lake. It takes them to an underground mooring room. The place is littered with corpses, all of them quite pale. They have two distinct puncture wounds in their neck.
These corpses are clearly members of The Purple Hand, distinguishable by their tattoo on their chest and mutations. Felix informs them about vampires and about what to do to prevent the dead from rising. Before chopping them up, Mandred searches the bodies and finds a map.
The Cellblock
The adventurers walk up the stairs and come upon a large hall, lined with cells on one side. A study sits in a corner, in the centre is a round table with six stools, four of them occupied with more cultist corpses who were in the process of having a cardgame. Again, the neck puncture wounds are found on them. Same goes for the occupants of the cells, the cellblock grates bent open by something with unnatural strength. A large purple hand is painted on one of the walls, accompanied by scratched slogans saying things like: "Change is coming!" and "Nyaar Nyaar, Limbak Tzeentch!" But more disturbing is an alcove with a marble phallus statue, carved with the symbol of Slaanesh and several smaller Nurgle symbols. The statue is readily destroyed by our overzealous adventurers.
Investigating the study, the heroes discover various small notes with demonic script, similar to those found in the tower of the Windhund Haulage Company. Apart from that, several letters are found, communication between "Badwolf" and "The Jade Cock" The latter who's handwriting is easily recognisable as that of Gotthard Geubbels/von Wittgenstein.
Investigating the study, the heroes discover various small notes with demonic script, similar to those found in the tower of the Windhund Haulage Company. Apart from that, several letters are found, communication between "Badwolf" and "The Jade Cock" The latter who's handwriting is easily recognisable as that of Gotthard Geubbels/von Wittgenstein.
Enter the Dungeon of Disgust and Despair
The next door leads to a long, deep, spiralling staircase, descending about ten meters before coming to rest at a crossroads. As soon as they enter, a hidden mechanism activates a lamp. The heroes turn left, but Felix stops them, the entire area before them is trapped! Before they have the time to figure out how to avoid it, a shambling skeleton knights silently rounds the corner behind them.
The slow undead is easily dispatched and it's corpse used to set off the trap, that consists off a hail of poisoned arrows, many of which are recuperated by Felix.
First stop is the northeast corner, where the heroes find a sewer grate, secured by some sort of one way mechanic device. Opening it, they find that the tunnel beneath leads to Skaven warrens. Clearly marked by their foul triangular symbol. Apart from that, there is also a large Nurgle symbol in the wall, hals covered by glowing mushrooms, lichen and other vileness.
Making their way across the stairs to the other room, the adventures find an old tomb. The script on it can be traced back to the time of the founding of the city. Yet, the tombs have been desecrated. Deciding it might be too dangerous to open they leave the burial chamber and make their way to the other tombs. In the corridor with the stairs, the crew is attacked by cultists of Tzeentch and Slaanesh. After a brutal fight, in which a Nurgling is accidentally summoned by one of the cultists, the crew advance. Passing the stairs, they set off another trap, by which three of them fall down a deep pit filled with oil, the walls lined with vicious spikes. On top of that, the heroes hearts skip a beat as a flaming torch drops down from the ceiling. Thankfully the trap is very old and not well maintained and the torch extinguishes just before it falls down into the oil.
The second tomb chamber is even more defiled than the first. Green glowing mist slowly overflows the edges of the burial places and the band of explorers retreats quickly from the foul vapours.
The slow undead is easily dispatched and it's corpse used to set off the trap, that consists off a hail of poisoned arrows, many of which are recuperated by Felix.
First stop is the northeast corner, where the heroes find a sewer grate, secured by some sort of one way mechanic device. Opening it, they find that the tunnel beneath leads to Skaven warrens. Clearly marked by their foul triangular symbol. Apart from that, there is also a large Nurgle symbol in the wall, hals covered by glowing mushrooms, lichen and other vileness.
Making their way across the stairs to the other room, the adventures find an old tomb. The script on it can be traced back to the time of the founding of the city. Yet, the tombs have been desecrated. Deciding it might be too dangerous to open they leave the burial chamber and make their way to the other tombs. In the corridor with the stairs, the crew is attacked by cultists of Tzeentch and Slaanesh. After a brutal fight, in which a Nurgling is accidentally summoned by one of the cultists, the crew advance. Passing the stairs, they set off another trap, by which three of them fall down a deep pit filled with oil, the walls lined with vicious spikes. On top of that, the heroes hearts skip a beat as a flaming torch drops down from the ceiling. Thankfully the trap is very old and not well maintained and the torch extinguishes just before it falls down into the oil.
The second tomb chamber is even more defiled than the first. Green glowing mist slowly overflows the edges of the burial places and the band of explorers retreats quickly from the foul vapours.
Botched EXPERIMENTS and the thing in the cell
Next the heroes make their way to the northeast of the dungeon, coming upon a long corridor that ends upon a small library. The floor of the corridor is littered with intestine -like tubes with unnatural growths on them but, being distracted by a loud noise at the end of the corridor, they fail no notice that the innards are actually sentient and eject long, jagged spikes. Several of the heroes are stricken and paralysed while whatever made the noise shambles around the corridor. The horrific thing seems to be an unholy combination of several people at once and, while fighting it it tries and fails to change it's shape into several of the heroes, causing much distress.
The creature proves a worthy adversary but in the end, it cannot hope to defeat our heroes.
Coming upon the room where it was held, Gotrak finds traces of dwarf craftsmanship in the diamond shaped room. After searching a while he finds the mechanism that allows the room to be moved, activating it, the room descends into the darkness below on unseen hinges.
The creature proves a worthy adversary but in the end, it cannot hope to defeat our heroes.
Coming upon the room where it was held, Gotrak finds traces of dwarf craftsmanship in the diamond shaped room. After searching a while he finds the mechanism that allows the room to be moved, activating it, the room descends into the darkness below on unseen hinges.
The Laboratory of corruption
Once the room has stopped moving, the door opens to an advanced lab of unseen proportions. Several glass tanks hold some kind of liquid and half formed humanoid beings. While incredibly advanced constructions channel energy to them. Apart from several alchemical workstations, filled with vials and the like, the intrepid explorers also find many scrolls and occult texts. After studying these, depicting anatomy and bestiary excerpts, the heroes learn that the goal of the cultist was to create a changeling, a shape shifter. To what nefarious purpose is unclear but, the band continues with a heavy heart. Whatever it is, it cannot be good, especially knowing now without a doubt that all of the empire's enemies are working together while the forces of good seem only to be bent on conflict witch each other.
After making sure the lab is destroyed, the crew returns and continues its expedition into the evil headquarter.
After making sure the lab is destroyed, the crew returns and continues its expedition into the evil headquarter.
Jassim Mummar
Returning to the dungeon, the crew first have to traverse the switchback stair where a gigantic spider lives and where they fail to avoid a trap before they enter into the last room. In here they see a multitude of different kinds of cultists all listening to Jassim Mummar, the wizard of the arabian delegation who has undergone a radical transformation. Felix immediately recognises his new form as that of a master vampire! ... to be continued...