S6E13 EIR- Grave Matters Indeed

PCs: Agnes (Duane), Mor (Bill), Gary (Matt), Venegral (Tony), Katja (Geoff), Ymath (Brian)

Into the Breech: They watched as the Panther guards lifted Prince Henryk on a litter and carried him to the castle and the Graf’s doctor. They too exited the Temple of Ulric and witnessed the dwarves dealing with the influx of skaven. They stood upon the ramparts near the destroyed east gate and saw scores of Middenheim defenders, mad with fear (caused by the Hellcannon blast) in full retreat. They watched distant skeletal archers bloat the sky with a rainbow of arrows. As they gazed upon the Hellcannon on a distant ridge, they could see Chaos Dwarves reloading the daemonic machine with more lifeless bodies to fuel its raw energy blast.

And that’s when the ‘Master of the Hunt’ Allavandrel Fanmaris approached Mor, “All is lost and hopeless; princess Katarina is dead. A wave of chaos is about to roll over these pathetic humans. Come, follow me. I know a way out.” Mor spit upon the ground, “You’ve grown fat and cowardly within the walls. Yes, scurry into the tunnels like another rat. Even the dwarves have more honor than thee.” Allavandrel melted away but not before leaving 2 quivers of elven arrows, “May they bit the enemy more than your words.”

Meanwhile, Gary remembered the dwarves mentioning their tunnels that led east into the mountains, “Perhaps they have one that opens near the Hellcannon.” They were already near the Dwarven district and thus sought out the Stone-mason Guild. The dwarves were resistant to revealing their tunnels till Gary pointed out Rega’s armor mounted on the walls, “We knew a dwarf more than willing to give his all.” And thus, they were led into the Temple of Grungi where the stone altar was moved aside to reveal the tunnel entrance. Gary with his magical stone light and Agnes with light on her Warhammer led the way under the Fusilog Mountains that eventually opened near the Hellcannon ridge. 

A dozen zombie soldiers were chained to the daemonic machine, dragging it forward. Another half-dozen Chaos Dwarf fed and operated the soul-hungry belching furnace.

Ready on the Firing Line: Agnes provided leadership to help aim ranged weapons: Gary’s pistols, Mor’s arrows, Katja’s bolts, and Ymath’s lead-belcher cannon. Answered by dwarven blunderbusses that caught Agnes’ robes on fire. Venegral’s fireball torched a few zombies as the forces converged. [fear] Although too afraid to advance, Katja managed to sink a bolt into one Chaos Dwarf (manning the devices’ aiming) that severed his jaw. More dwarves scrambled to assume aiming to lower the cannon at the heroes: those dwarfs became the next targets. Agnes’ Orphans rushed into melee range, then paused to rethink their strategy when the Hellcannon broke free as no more dwarves to control it!

Venegral channeled blast spells as others fired ranged weapons trying to dismantle the machine. And when they did… it exploded with a shockwave that knocked Agnes and Gary on their asses. Prone as they watched the demon emerge… to then return to its demonic plane of existence. PHEW!!

That Ain’t No Ship: But no time to rest as they spied a sailing ship on the horizon with a creature flying near its sails. So far from the seas?! Yet as it drew closer, they realized it a Necrofex Colossus [Terror 2] accompanied by the GraveLord riding on the neck of a skeletal Triceratops. “I thought we killed that thing!! Fritz, break out the Hochland rifle.” They wasted a few shots at the Colossus before realizing they needed to focus on the GraveLord, “Take down his mount.” Easier said than done when dodging flying skulls sent forth by the GraveLord himself. 

Ymath was ready when the winged beast drew near as he fired his lead-belcher that caused the GraveLord to fall off his mount right at the feet of the Ogre who licked his lips for the airborne delivered meal. Yet no sooner did Ymath dispatch the foe, Winds-of-Dhar rose as a fog that entered a distant slain Chaos Dwarf who now stood as the new GraveLord!

At least Venegral was able to drop the now riderless skeletal Triceratops with a well-cast blast. Agnes realized her mission: to slay the GraveLord with Ghal Maraz which would permanently end his life. Except Zombies ambled closer as well as the Colossus. Not to mention the ever-flying skulls. 

As Ymath reloaded, Katja alone faced the Colossus that towered before her. [fate] By sheer- fate she dodged the swooping arm of the Necrofex which became the single focus of the heroes (since Agnes was currently cut off from her advance on the GraveLord). Surprise when the Colossus suddenly turned to engage both Agnes and Ymath [resolve]!! Both barely managed to roll out of the way of its stomp.

Zombies now engaged the other heroes, keeping them at bay. Katja suffered a bruised rib from one. Even Agnes had to fend off 2 zombies that suffered wounds just being near Ghal Maraz. Mor swung his Wildwood Sword and amputated the arm of his lone zombie attacker that freed him to shoot an arrow that killed the GraveLord. That only hopped into another nearby body. [resilience] Agnes avoided another death-blow from the Colossus. 

Flying skulls and zombies frustrated the heroes till Ymath finally reloaded and blasted the Colossus point-blank range. It toppled, spewing forth a half-dozen more zombies from its ship rigging and deck.

[fumble] And that’s when the magic blade slipped from Gary’s grasp and plunged into Katja! Fortune Venegral able to cast another blast spell that cleared the fresh zombies from the battlefield so Agnes could treat Katja. Yet no time to relax as a horn sounded from distant hills threatening another wave of zombies and foe. Yet it was Ymath who recognized the horn, “It is an Ogre army come to our aid to help lift the siege!”

Refreshed and resolve to advance on the retreating GraveLord whose attempted magic was countered by Venegral who flew toward the chaos foe. Mor’s long stride was no match for the larger Ymath who quickly closed on the GraveLord. Yet it was Venegral who arrived first and clobbered the foe with his quarterstaff. Not a deathblow; rather, a stunning unconscious strike that left the threat an easy coup-de-grace kill for Agnes wielding Ghal Maraz. The final true death of the GraveLord spelled an end to the zombie and skeletal armies that collapsed on the battlefield.

To the Airship: Healing aside, and after checking on the care of Prince Henryk and the Graf, they rushed to the airship, “We need to get to the emperor in Altdorf!” The dwarf engineers protested but soon complied, “Just keep your grungy hands off the machinery!” As they sailed south, they leaned over the railing to witness the landscape on fire. Human armies were still on the march.

Days later they arrived at the scene of Morrslieb so low on the horizon it looked like it was touching the city itself! The city was in panic. Citizens ran through the streets, but for the heroes, with no airfield to land, their only docking was at the wharfs. Soldiers protested its arrival as they’d never seen such a vessel. Confusion. The harbor master, Conrad Schubertz, knew not how to log the ship’s arrival. The dwarfs provided the easy answer by weighing anchor and flew away.

As they rushed towards the castle, a group of soldiers approached, “We’ve been looking for you. We are from the Black Chamber here to protect you from cultists plan to waylay you.” [intuition] But Venegral knew better and cast fear, “Stand aside.” Agnes prayed (Blessing of Consciousness), “Get outa our way.” The heroes were just about to dispatch those who remained when a squad of 7 more soldiers arrived to deal with the matter, “A lad told us to find you and save you.” When description was given, all knew the “lad” was really Gideon! Why would he be eager to help?!

They soon arrived at the palace and were led into the halls of the inner throne room where they found the emperor weak and sallow (jaundiced). Crown Prince Wolfgang was relieved to see them especially when Agnes displayed Ghal Maraz. The Grand Theogonist stepped forth from behind the throne to examine the hammer and bowed in recognition. Venegral pointed out the significance of the gathering, “The hammer of Sigmar, bathed and renewed in the fires of the Temple of Ulric, carried by a priestess of Shallya… if that’s not a sign of unity?!” When Agnes handed over the hammer to the prince, she saw the flash of greed upon his cheeks before he transferred it to the grip of the emperor himself. As Agnes prayed (Tears of Shallya), Venegral witnessed winds-of-Dhar fighting against her prayer.

Agnes cast (Martyr) to assume the pains of the emperor as he fought against the more powerful spell that wracked his body. Venegral offered, “We need the Grand Wizard to participate in this ousting.” And so, it was a combined effort to heal the emperor. Although still weak from the years he had suffered, Emperor Franz spoke, “My empire is pulling itself apart. As a sign of unity before all, we need a ceremony in which the current regent Crown Prince Wolfgang hand me the hammer of Sigmar so that I may hold Ghal Maraz aloft before my people.” Mor was able to read Wolfgang’s whispers to his father that the transfer should be soonest. He also read the emperor’s reply, “You don’t know politics. We need to show the people themselves the true passing of rulership. Call forth the Electors.”

UP NEXT- THE CEREMONY: https://rigglewwh.blogspot.com/2023/06/s6e14-eir-conclusion.html