Captain's Log: 2514.
We had caught ourselves some rats but figuring out what to do with the Skaven proved to be the hardest part. On the one hand, they could assist us with the raid on the warpstone cave and brave whatever terrors lurked inside. On the other, they are abominations that ambush people, kidnap children and join beast men forces. What do you mean I have a bias? I just don't trust anyone that aligns themselves with Chaos! I prefer good, lawful fellows like Sir Marine Captain Werner. He would never dare collaborate with Chaos in any of its horrible forms! So the discussion continued without any end in sight, er, hearing. The one thing that we did agree on is was to hand the Skaven over to the rightful authorities after the wizard is slain. Explaining the Skaven and warpstone situation to the village of Pritzstock was surprisingly painless. Angry, confused glares and looks of fear are sometimes the best you can hope for. The dispute regarding the Skaven continued but we all regained our sanity and decided to hand them over to the militia immediately. What in Sigmar's name was I thinking before then? I can't believe I almost took their word as the truth!
The light of the morning heralded our march into the forest near Pritzstock. The beauty of the sunlight flowing through the gaps in the trees lifted my spirits for a good while. It is a great pleasure to get a reminder of what you fight for. My dreams have given me many a bleak vision of the unending darkness that could occur. A permanent reign of Morrslieb. It is a frightening thought. Damned chills overcome me just telling you of it! Jim found his way back to the cave with no issue. No interruption either. It was a terrible sign of things to come when a place of peril stands so quietly. All the old tales know it and pass it on for a bloody good reason. We brought a light of our own into that lair and ventured in. It was a short passage and thankfully not too meandering. We found a large, circular cavern to the east. Right across from us was a curtain concealing another section of the cave. To the south was darkness beyond our light. We prepared for the worst and moved towards the darkness.
Skulls. Hundreds! Thous- Okay, only about thirty or so. Human, beast, beast man and things I've never seen before. All of them arrayed on the dirt floor in the south eastern part of the cavern. Jim and Werner knew what must be done. They took picks and shovels and got to work destroying as many of the damn things as humanly possible. The sounds of crunching and cracking travelled far down the rock tunnels. Sounds anyone, or anything, could easily hear. I took a position near the curtains, just out of sight of any approaching cave guardian, and drew my rapier.
A bestial skull came flying at me from the west. The shock got to me more than the skull itself. I grasped my boarding axe and brought it crashing down upon the bastard right as it opened its jaws. I breathed a sigh of relief and briefly glimpsed something to my right. It was a man dressed in a tattered robe, with wild hair, stubble, and an even wilder look in his eyes. Motes of lightning danced between his fingertips as he gave Werner and I a look of insane hatred. Just the time for me to be wearing my chain armour, eh? The bolts I felt through my blood and bones were excruciating. Fried like a fish. I never thought I would truly sympathize with a haddock. It was no problem for the warrior Werner. He was shockingly shocked by the shock more than the shocks themselves. Jim gave that foul wizard a fair strike with his blade. Alas, a brute of a mercenary appeared from behind the curtain and dealt him a vicious slash to his right arm. The man was not dead but bleeding on the floor. We needed a quick and powerful move to end this early. Out of its scabbard came Death Dealer.
The swing of the sword glowed with a purple lightning that streaked across the blade. A vicious gash was left in the wizard's left side that, like a fountain, spewed that same purple power. The wounded area swelled to a hideous size and soon it burst in a haunting display of guts and blood. All that was left was a hollowed form that was once the foul warlock. The One was dismayed by its raw power. I, to be honest, was absolutely delighted. His mercenary companion surrendered immediately after wiping the blood off his face. The man's name was Kurt Schultz. His cousin Albrecht is a wizard in Middenheim and that was how he heard of Dieter. Well, the mess that was formerly known as Dieter. We worked out that Dieter's friend was killed by the villagers and that he created the skull beings to avenge him. We briefly looked into the room behind the curtain. Simply furnished, with two beds and a droughts set. Not as deranged as I had expected. It was hand made, along with a half-finished chess set. Kurt told me that Dieter was teaching him how to craft these games. I'd feel some remorse but it does not matter if Dieter knew exactly how the check rules work or how many squares the horse moves. He threw bolts of lightning at Werner and I. That was enough, as far as we were concerned.
Jim was saved in the nick of time by our doctor's fine work. The One offered him her sword as a reward for his bravery. We all stopped and stared silently to see if the sword would accept its new wielder. Kurt tried to say something but I shushed him. Jim drew the sword without a second thought. A glorious moment was brought to us by Sigmar! He shall be now known as Blessed Jim, the receiver of The One's kindness! Werner found bits of warpstone underneath where each skull had been. Fine work! It made the burns I suffered worth it. We carefully placed the pieces into a helmet and covered it. Dieter's head was scooped up into a bag and Kurt was bound like Skeena and his crew. Our return to the village caused some commotion. Many, many questions were hurled our way. They almost caught on to the glowing warpstone in a bag but Kurt's predicament thankfully garnered more attention.
"Who's that?" Parzival asked.
"Kurt, a friend of ours." I replied.
"We never met him once when we went into the forest..."
"We rescued him from the mad wizard."
"Why is he tied up like a prisoner, then?"
Blessed Jim, in a brilliant flash of wit, said the following: "It's a hazing ritual for new recruits."
Parzival was very pleased with this answer. Reminded him of his younger years.
Nobody was pleased by the reveal of Dieter's severed head. Henri, in particular, was as white as the gibbous moon. He screamed about a man named Stephan and fled back to his home in horror. No time was wasted as we rushed to the Phillip estate. We kicked the door open but he was nowhere to be found. Elizabeth's weeping could be heard from upstairs. It was soon clear that he had hid himself below in the cellar. The man panicked and paced to and fro the cellar, trying to assure himself that he was not mad. He forbade us from approaching him and claimed that he would explain everything. His wife was seduced by Stephan, Dieter's twin brother, and they engaged in an affair right under Henri's nose. He was driven to rage when he discovered his wife and Stephan together. Stephan was slain for his adultery and sealed behind a fake wall in the cellar. This killing was what drove Dieter to enact his wicked plot. Werner found this answer satisfactory and agreed to join Henri for a drink. I stayed down there in the cellar. There had to be more to this, I thought.
I took a hammer and set about breaking open the wall. I had to see what was inside. There could be warpstone or any other tool of Chaos in there. Perhaps this was a war between two Chaos priests, with Henri hoping to infect his new wine with some of that foul rock? I had to know. I had to see the truth. I had to see... Stephan's remains? I found a small letter nearby and asked The One to read it. It was a love letter from Elizabeth to him. Henri was right. That felt... so strange.
So wrong yet the evidence was clear. Truly I have been absorbed into too many strange schemes and conspiracies to see the obvious. To see a simple truth when it appears. Ah, I can't stop being vigilant! Chaos lurks everywhere and must be destroyed!
I went upstairs to join the rest in drinking. It was a pure and delicious wine.
- Johann Dasbuut.
Comments