Our third session, the first of the Eye for an Eye adventure, began with our wood elf waywatcher Peanut being delayed by an hour and our Sigmarite priest having to unfortunately bow out of the campaign for a while a half hour before the session. In addition, my poor beleaguered wife was exhausted, and the baby had begun a good solid stretch of fussing. It was not destined to be a good session.
Prior to the game, over email, the party had interrogated it's two prisoners (see: Session Two). The criminal confessed he was being brought to trial for the murder of minor noble in Ubersreik. He was flush with money and wine from a previous score, which the PCs also wheedled out of him: He had been hired by a mysterious man in nearby Geissbach to kill a merchant with a loose tongue (implied to be someone the Order of the Unblinking Eye). Having in turn flapped his own gums about that, the Order of the Eye had employed a minor Slaneshi cultist in Stromdorf to in turn silence him before he returned to Ubersreik, and hijack all incoming mail to Grunewald lodge. Thus leading to the improvised second session of Day Late and a Shilling short.
The Cultist on the other hand, lied about most things, but exposed his connection to another cult somewhere in the Reikswald. The PCs put two and two together, and new that something cult-y was afoot in Grunewald. Being that these weren't seasoned roleplayers, and I'd never run an investigation game, I wanted to stack the deck in their favor. After the group interrogation, Wilhelm the Gold Wizard privately visited the cultist, challenged him to a fight, but then did something I thought was clever. He cantrip'ed a small brass coin to emit tiny hints of the gold wind, and secreted it into the cultists clothes. He then threw the fight, allowing the cultist to escape, and leave a glowing trail.
When the actual session began, the three remaining party members, Wesley, the Roadwarden, Rayne the Bounty Hunter, and Wilhelm the Gold Wizard, began by exploring Ubersreik. I used the Edge of Night book to give some town history and suggestions of places to shop. Party tension was high, as Wilhelm didn't explain why he'd freed the cultist, and the others already did not trust him. After exhausting all the coin to buy a handgun for Wesley and a fine dagger for Peanut, the party headed to the Red Moon Inn to meet Hendrick. We decided Peanut did not like the city, and would head off on her own to meet them at the Lodge.
It didn't go well. Wilhelm wanted to delay departure to track the cultist (who I had already determined had made his way to Grunewald Lodge in order to warn the Order of the Eye of his failure. He and Hendrick exchanged harsh words, and the finally agreed to travel north together, but Wilhelm wanted to make pursuit of the cultist the primary goal. I knew it was already rail-roady to have the cultist follow the same trail as the adventure, but Wilhelm didn't make the connection that they were one and the same goal. Party tension rose, as Wesley and Rayne just wanted to take the Aschaffenberg job. Wilhelm is now obsessed with the cultist.
The journey went uneventfully, Hendrick glaring at Wilhelm the whole way. They reached the outskirts of Grunewald lodge knowing they were being followed, and when the beastmen attacked the cart, Hendrick tried to spur the horses towards the still closed gate.
I had intended to spice up the combat by having the PCs ride on the cart during the fight, gaining fortune from the height, but falling off should a chaos star arise. Instead, Wilhelm lept off the cart, demanding that Hendrick stop and fight with them. He even went as far as trying to decouple the horse from the cart, but Hendrick struck him with the whip, screaming bloody murder to open the door. Wilhelm thought the cultist and Hendrick were in league, and from his perspective, Hendrick thought Wilhelm was crazy. Meanwhile, Rayne opened fire from the cart, and Wesley hopped off to engage a Gor.
They were hopelessly outclassed, especially as I had decided to add a Bray Shaman to the war herd (I used Foaldeath with a few modifications). Everyone in the party took 4-6 wounds during the fight, and although the Shaman proved hilariously inept, things did not go well. Wilhelm and the Shaman were engaged in a wizards duel, Wesley was dueling with a gor and two henchmen, and Rayne was kicking at the remaining ungors trying to pull her from the cart.
When it looked grim, Wilhelm looked to me and said: Can I pay a fortune point to have Peanut arrive just in the nick of time? I loved this, and agreed. With uncanny timing our doorbell rang. Peanut had arrived, fortune point free.
We placed her in the treeline, having done a circumnavigation of the Lodge, noting the sleeping guards and crumbling walls. She took stock of the situation, brought a bead on the Bray Shaman and let loose with a sniper shot. Peanut already rolls a huge pool, and I added for her concealment. She rolled three successes, and a righteous success that then rolled a Sigmar's Comet. It was enough damage to kill the Bray Shaman twice. He slumped into a pile of ragged cloth and bone totems, utterly dead. The rest of the heard balked, and the PC's pressed the attack, killing the Gors and driving the ungors back into the woods.
The gate finally opened, Hendrick cursing the PCs and the guards in equal measure, and they made their awkward entrance to Grunewald Lodge.
The PCs missed seeing Gregor, and he went un-introduced in this session, but they took a liking to the brash and guffawing Lord Aschaffenberg. I had a blast playing the bearded noble, who filled the PCs in on the strange events, and his own opinions. With that they split up to investigate.
My wife's exhaustion, the squalling baby, and general malaise made the short investigation a little clunky, but Rayne and Wesley went to the hospice to try and get some medical attention, while Wilhelm asked if there was a cellar, expecting the cult to inhabit the "low places".
When asked for healing draughts, I made Dr. Stieger attempt to poison them right then and there. I gave Peanut a hard nature lore check, which she succeeded, and she surreptitiously warned the PCs not to drink the stuff, and to not trust the doctor, advancing the investigation token. We ended that scene with Sister Sonja quietly signaling the PC's to follow her into the hallway.
Wilhelm followed the dwindling trail of the cantrip, which indicated that the Slaneshi cultist came to the lodge the night before, and waited for a while outside the wall. Then the trial went into the ground, where he found the magic coin, as well as two severed fingers, complete with gaudy rings. Peanut could probably track him from here, but the magic trail went cold.
He then went straight to the kitchen, where Karla nearly stabbed him for trying to enter the wine cellar, demanding he come back with the Lord himself before she allowed him down to steal her precious booze. He talked Lord Rickard into making a scowling Hendrick accompany him, and Karla relented, allowing them both below, but advancing the cult token once. Down below, Wilhelm quickly found the secret entrance, which horrified the previously doubtful Hendrick, who suddenly gained respect for him. They decided not to enter the tunnel, as to not alert anyone just yet, and Hendrick returned to inform Rickard. Wilhelm grabbed a bottle of wine, returned to Karla, declaring he had found nothing, and offering the wine as an apology for his behavior before, which turned her sour mood quickly.
The players were pretty sleepy at this point, worn down by he tension over Wilhelms unorthodox behavior, dangerous combat and fussy baby, and we ended a little early. I was pretty disheartened, as I was worried that the rough session might derail the game.
For the next game, I decided on an enforced two hour session to hopefully fight the low energy, and to move the game to a proper table and off the couch and coffee table which seemed to further contribute to the sleepy atmosphere. I also decided to invite another friend to join us for the next game... These choices turned out to be just what we needed, as session four was by far and away our most entertaining one yet, despite not a single moment of combat. More on that soon!