Paths of the Damned, Pt. 2: Rats in the Walls

This is the second IC thread for my Warhammer FRP 2e PbP.

1. Part 1: Through the Drakwald
2. Out of Character
3. Rogues Gallery

Dramatis Personae
Ottokar Kurtzlander, Human Initiate of Sigmar (Lot)
Winifred von Troutheim, Human Noble (Wilphe)
Ragnar Foulbreath, Dwarven Pit Fighter (Insight)
Torillan Ellandilas, Elven Kithband Warrior (Torillan)
PC TBNL, Dwarf (Mr_Spicoli)

The Story So Far
The PCs have just accompanied a caravan of refugees from Untergard through the Drakwald to Middenheim. During the course of the journey, an icon of Sigmar was entrusted to their care by a dying man, who asked that the icon be returned to the Temple of Sigmar in Middenheim.

The Arrival in Middenheim
As your caravan arrives in the city, it is escorted by the City Watch towards the Southgate-Ostwald district, which stands just inside the southernmost gates into the city. Although the damage from the siege is not extensive here, you can see buildings with patched roofs and even some completely abandoned homes and stores, completely demolished by Archaon's weapons. These districts are almost overrun by refugees, with a number of warehouses having been converted into temporary shelters. Volunteers, supervised and assisted by priestesses of Shallya, tend to the sick and wounded and help distribute food and clothes. The clothes are rough, but functional, and the portions of food not dissimilar. It's clear to you that the city's resources have been stretched to the breaking point by the siege and subsequent waves of refugees.

Ottokar looks upon the crowd of refugees with pity, then turns back to Winifred.

"Tough all over, isn't it? I knew about the siege here, but after the journey, I was hoping things weren't so bad. Stupid of me, I know."

Ottokar pulls on a chain hanging from his belt and reaches for his new prayer book, which he pages through for a moment. Finding the passage he must have been searching for, he mutters a few words under his breath, then closes the book. Pausing for a moment, he turns back to Winifred.

"We should go to the Temple and deliver our precious cargo, don't you think? After that, though, I'm unsure what my next move will be. You know where you're heading?"

[sblock=OOC]I'm a little unclear if you can make Heal rolls for yourself. If possible, Ottokar will examine and treat his own wounds. Heal Roll: 58 (failure). Nevermind, then.[/sblock]

Ottokar frowns.

"Oh Granny, what did you hatch right under our noses. For our failure to see what she was doing, we lost an ally and saw something terrible unleashed on the world. Those elves in the woods had the right of it. What evil could we have prevented if we had left her to the elves."

The young initiate sighs and composes himself.

"What's done is done. The next step is to see how we can turn all this around.

[sblock=OOC for Lot]Looking at the skill on page 93, I'll agree that that's pretty vague. Because it doesn't explicitly forbid it, however, I'll judge that you can at least tend to yourself if you're lightly wounded. If you're heavily wounded, I have a hard time seeing how you could do it, except maybe to direct your own care — presuming you're conscious. Side question — Ottokar is part of the Order of the Silver Hammer, correct? (Check out the Cult of Sigmar section of the WHFRP 2e book.)[/sblock]Getting directions to the Temple of Sigmar is fairly easy. It is situated on the edge of the Freiburg District, not far from the North Gate. An impressive stone structure, it's not quite as big as the Temple of Ulric, for which the city is very famous.

Inside, the temple is pretty, but austere, with the colored light from the stained glass windows dancing on the dark wooden pews. An initiate greets you as you enter. "Welcome to the Temple of Sigmar. May I help you?"

Ottokar:

Ottokar moves forward and offers a slight bow.

"Hello. I am Ottokar, Initiate of the Order of the Silver Hammer. I am here regarding a very important matter and would like to speak to a priest, if possible."

The initiate bows. "Of course. Allow me to fetch Father Morten." He takes leave of you and Winifred and heads off into the Temple. He returns some five minutes later with a shortish man in his early forties with thinning brown hair, flecked with grey. He smiles at the two of you. "Brother Ottokar. My lady." A slight bow. "I'm Father Morten. You have something you wish to see me about?" Despite everything going on outside the walls of the temple — the refugees, the Beastmen in the Drakwald, and the general ills of the world — he's genuinely cheerful in his demeanor, and his eyes have a relaxed curiosity and marked warmth. It's almost as if there couldn't be anything in the world more interesting than what you were about to tell him at this very moment.

Ottokar bows respectfully to the Father Morten.

"Father, my companions and I have just finished a...well, a pretty difficult journey from Untergard. We accompanied the group of refugees whom came into town today. We lost some people along the way. One of those people was a Priest of Sigmar. His name was Dietrich. He was slain by a pit-trap. Um...as he was dying, he entrusted us with what he said was a relic of Sigmar."

Ottokar reaches into his robes and pulls out the package, untampered with from when it was entrusted to him. He hands it to Father Morten.

"Father Dietrich charged us with getting this to this temple. Now, we have."

His eyes widen as you hand him the parcel. "Hmm. Just a moment." He starts to unwrap it, revealing a small wooden icon, some four inches square. It's an image of a warrior in ancient tribal dress, his hand resting on the haft of a great warhammer. The colors have darkened over the course of the centuries. "Amazing!" Morten says. "This is the oldest icon of Sigmar that I've ever seen. Look at the goldwork around the edges. Dwarfen, I'm sure of it. And the costume — Unberogen tribal dress — old enough to have been drawn from life! You've brought us a very great treasure indeed, and Father Dietrich was right to entrust it to you. On behalf of the temple, I thank you. This is...wonderful!"

He turns to an initiate and says a few words. After a short time, the initiate returns with a pair of small pouches and two small pendants. Morten smiles, "It's a small token of our appreciation. This is the most exciting thing I've seen in the course of my time here in Middenheim, either here or at the Collegium, and this is the list we can do. Brother Ottokar, you're a credit to your order. My lady, Sigmar's blessings on you." The initiate hands you the pouches, which have the weight of a tidy sum of coin, and the pendants, small silver hammers, as are typically worn by many members of the Cult of Sigmar.

Ottokar takes the pendant gratefully and immediatly puts it on. As he is handed the pouch of coins, however, is face becomes a bit pensive. Opening the bag to get a rough count of the amount of money, he looks back at Father Morten.

"The amount of coin you have attributed to our task does me honor, but it is more than I can take. With the amount of death and starvation occurring around us, I'm afraid I can't take this much for merely doing my duty. Please, as a member of the Order of the Torch, you are in far better position than I to make sure this money goes to those whom need it."

Ottokar removes a significant number of the coins and hands them back to Father Morten.

"Besides, I'm an Ostlander. I wouldn't know what to do with that much money. Probably end up wasting it," he adds with a grin.

[sblock=OOC]I'm not sure how much is in the pouch but I imagine Ottokar would give back a significant amount. Let me know how much is in the purse and I'll tell you how much Ottokar plans to keep.[/sblock]