was already found and killed. The smelly heroes return to the Beribelli where they first take a bath in the river before being allowed on board for some well earned sleep.
The next day the heroes go to the Town hall. At the Town Hall, the adventurers are met by a surly-looking clerk, who, after keeping them waiting for quite a while, informs them that the Goblin was killed in a warehouse last night. Since they failed to capture it, the council is not prepared to pay any money for their part in the proceedings. The heroes wild tales of daemons in the sewers are met with scepticism and disbelief. Especially Gotrak gets very angry and demands to see someone in authority. When this is refused by the increasingly frightened clerk, they attempt to break in into the back of the Town Hall. The Watch is summoned and Councillor Magirius intervenes, he agrees to pay the heroes a marginal sum (just to get rid of them).
The PCs behaviour caused them NOT to be invited the next day, contrary to what the adventure states, as such, they never met Counsillor Teugen
Remembering the magically sealed secret door, the heroes spend a great deal of time finding a mage to help them open it. In their efforts, they visit a fortune teller who gives them some cryptic
visions:
- Beware of a big man, a rich man. He will bring much danger.
- I see a dark man -he is not what he seems.
- I see seven men, and two. One of the two will destroy the others, and many more besides.
- The great killed the small, and the highest serve the lowest. You are in great danger. The eye of
Evil is upon you.
Finally Mandredd is able to locate an out of the way magic shop, where he finds a rather expensive piece of meteor for his staff and he convinces the shop owner to come with them to the sewers. However, when they arrive in the location of the temple, nothing remains. The entire room is cleared out and even the magical door has disappeared. By using complicated mathematics, deduction and some luck, the heroes note that above the temple lie the offices of the Steinhager
family. When Gotrak tries to get himself hired as a miner at the Steinhager's offices he is directed to the miners guild.
Meanwhile the heroes gather more information on the towns politics. In theory, Bogenhafen is ruled by its council, and the few issues that get as far as a council debate are decided on by a straight majority vote. There are fifteen seats on the council but, the majority of these are controlled - directly or indirectly - by the four merchant families. These families are: The Haagen family; Wastelanders with several trading contacts in Marienburg, they are Bogenhafen's main dealers in luxury goods. The Ruggbroder family deal mainly in grain and other farm produce,
bringing it into Bogenhafen in exchange for cloth and metal goods produced in the town itself. They used to have a virtual monopoly of trade with Helmgart and Bretonnia, but are now in competition with the Teuugens in that direction. The Steinhager family has a number of Dwarven and mining contacts, and concentrates mainly on the distribution of goods from Altdorf, Nuln and Marienburg to the communities along the edges of the Grey Mountains, in exchange for furs, metals and
other produce. The Teugen family are one of the oldest families in Bogenhafen, and consider themselves to be the nobility of the town. The family suffered a decline in its fortunes over the last twenty years or so, which was drastically reversed by the arrival of Johannes Teugen from the
university of Nuln.
That evening, Morrslieb, instead of being a crescent as would be expected at this time of the month, is almost full. The heroes are unsure of what to do and spend the rest of the evening discussing their findings, visiting the priest of Morr, of Verena and of Sigmar.
Mandred has an epiphany. They all forgot about the words Ordo Septenarius that were written in the secret temple! Asking about this in several locations, the adventurers learn that The Ordo Septenarius is a semi-secret organisation that uses its funds to help the poor of Bogenhafen and makes regular donations to the temple of Shallya.
When the adventurers return to the fairground to discuss their findings with Dr. Malthusius Abel feels like they are being watched. The Doctor tried but failed to get any reasonable response from the town hall. He is very concerned about the tall tales of the heroes but there is little he can do. Some more drinking ensues in the beer tents of the festival and after some more discussions the heroes decide to check up on the Merchant's guild and inquire there on the nature of the Ordo Septenarius.
On their way over there
Once there they spot Cousillor Magirius, who they met first at the Town Hall. Apprehensive at first, the heroes know he is a member of the ordo, Mandredd gathers his courage and speaks to him. To everyone's surprise the councillor is a friendly man. He invites the adventurers to a meal in the Golden Trout Club, an upper class establishment right next to the trader's guild.
There are various reasons why we prefer to remain nameless - many of our members are councillors like myself, and many more are in a position to stand for office if they choose. People in this position would be open to accusations of bribery and electioneering if they were to engage in
these charitable activities openly, and it would be a shame if the poor were to suffer because we aere afraid to do anything for them.
Also, our co-operation in mercantile ventures is bound to incite a certain amount of bad feeling amongst our competitors. As things are, people are aware that some co-operation is going on, but they don't know who is involved; thus, they cannot openly accuse any individual of malpractice or take any reprisals - and their suspicions tend to work against them, giving us an even greater advantage.
So, you understand our need for secrecy. There are many who would reap great political advantage by discovering the membership of the Ordo, and some of our junior members might be tempted by their offers. We need to offer them some ... encouragement to abide by the rules of the society. Because of this, the workings of the Ordo are wrapped in a certain amount of ritual- or should I say the semblance of ritual- with various ceremonies, oaths and grades of initiation. I find that nothing concentrates the mind on thoughts of allegiance like participation in ceremony and the promise of promotion."
Magirius dismisses the heroes talk of demons as a trick from the thieves guild, they have been known to use hallucinogenics to cover their tracks, he firmly believes there is nothing wrong with the Ordo Septenarius. To the heroes, it is clear they will get no more useful information from Magirius. Perhaps he is right in his assessment of the order, perhaps there are only a few member who take part in vile sorceries.
Someone who should know more is Frans Steinhager, the heroes are sure that the handkerchief they found in the secret temple belongs to him. The Steinhager offices are nearby and so is the crossed pikes inn. In fact the Crossed Pikes should be above that other door in the sewers (which the heroes haven't checked out yet).
Entering the Crossed pikes, the heroes see many off duty town watchmen, their barracks are just at the end of the street. While Gotrak, Felix and Lothar stake out the Steinhager offices, Abel spots a sign in thieves tongue on one of the backdoors. Investigating it, Abel finds a stair down to the cellars. Suddenly a bag is put over Abel's head and he is tied up and manhandled down the stairs where he meets Franz Baumann of the Bogenhafen Thieves Guild.
"Ah," he says, "that's better. Now we can talk, or rather I can talk." He goes about intimidating the young Abel into keeping the thieves guild location secret. When asked about their use of hallucinogenics he scoffs and explains that that is a standard excuse of the town officials for anything that goes wrong. With promises of reaching out to the Altdorf Thieves Guild, Abel is released with the information that:
- The sewer entrance to the hidden temple is under the Steinhager offices. It
was installed between a year and eighteen months ago. - Members of the Steinhager family and other merchants have been seen going into the office at all hours of night on several occasions over the past six or eight months.
- Thieves using the neighbouring sewers have heard strange noises coming from the general direction of the door -the noises include chanting in some unfamiliar language, and the occasional scream.
- No one in the Thieves' Guild has seen anyone or anything coming out of the temple's sewer door, although mutilated bodies have been found occasionally in the sewers downstream of the door. They have nearly always had their hearts cut out.
- Bjorni Bjornisson was known to the Thieves' Guild; he was an alcoholic pervert who had been in town for a couple of months.
- Several beggars have died in a similar way over the last year.
Next: The Darkest Hour!