"Protector of the mad dwarf's hammer indeed..."

Hanna decides that leaving the hammer here is for the best for now. She heads to the dinning hall for dinner.

@ Deidrich:

You managed to get IN to the library. Whilst searching around the books a little more you find that two you had your eye on earlier are missing ( A Disquieting Proposal and Strange Flowers ). In fact, you realize that the rug in the center of the room has been upset a little. With some luck you lift it up and see a trap door.

Someone's coming!

What do you do?

* Lift the trap door and see if there's an escape? (0d) Athletics check

* Drop the rug and try not to look guilty? (1d) Guile check.

* something else?

@Daedelus: your discussion with the current gardener was short. The man was incredibly rude and upset that you had been brought in to take his place! He offered no helpful suggestions at all and flipped out and started yelling at you when you implied that perhaps the herb garden could use some tending. It was almost as if he was threatening you!

Make a (1d) Discipline check to be rebellious and go check out the herb garden after dinner.

@ Zelda: You have met the new celestial wizard, Daedelus. Seems like the typical skygazer. A short conversation on the constellations leads you to to discussion on Lileath, the elven goddess of dreams and fortune.

Next scene: DINNER

Daedelus makes a Discipline check: Comes up 2 successes.

"I didn't mean to offend you; it's just a little more ramshackle than...well a normal garden might be...oooh is that the gong for dinner? must be going I hear it's goose or venison; which do you prefer? blather... blather..."

Just before dinner is served Zelda will make a quick visit to the kitchen brandishing her fake 'architectural' studies.

"ahh this is where the heart of the house beats...you must be Karla Wagnor?..is that the goose I can smell mmmm I think I shall have some of that. " She pokes around gazing thoughtfully at any cracks in walls or signs of damp and adding a few notes to her clip board. Charm Check: 4 characteristic, 1 challenge: Result:Fails but 2 boons

She makes an Stealth check to try and sneak into the cellar; and fails utterly : Result : 1 chaos

Diedrich panics, and tries to dive beneath the trap door as quickly as possible.

Athletics

Rolled: 3 Characteristic Result: 2 Successes

@zelda: In an attempt to sneak over to the cellar, you manage to knock a huge pot of soup around slopping hot water on yourself (take 1 wound). The cook turns red in the face and lifts up a rolling pin..slapping it on her hand and glaring at you. You quickly high-tail it out of there and back to the great hall.

@Diedrich: you quickly jump down into the tunnel below the trap door and the door closes above you. You seem to be sitting on musty-dusty stairs and covered in cobwebs. The disturbance of dust makes you want to sneeze.

You hear footsteps up above walking around. There is a creak overhead as if someone is standing very near the trap door. You hold your finger over your nose trying not to sneeze and move farther down into the darkness.

The sound of someone opening the door above sends you even further down into a very cob-webbed hallway..very dusty. Your eyes are watering trying not to sneeze.

The voice above loudly whispers down, "Giezals! Is that you down there? What did I tell you about making sure the rug..." The voice stops abruptly and you hear a weapon being drawn from its sheath. The person begins walking down the stairs...

Meanwhile the other direction down the dank, low-ceiling tunnel shows a lamp light about 20' away through the thick cobwebs. You think you can hear a person that way as well and the lamp light moves a little. You try to see around in the gloom but it is just too dark!!! Feeling with your hands reveals little but more dust and cobwebs along the tunnel walls near you. It seems that there is only the chamber beyond and the stairs you came down.

Make a quick (1d) Resilience or Discipline check to avoid sneezing.

What would you like to do?

@Zelda, Daedelus, & Hanna: You have all gathered in the Great Hall for supper. (Details here: http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/95698-new-gms-how-to-gm-walk-through-of-eye-for-an-eye-play-by-post-new-gms-join-us-spoilers/?p=948598)

You see the cook arguing with Lord Aschaffenberg who simply throws up her hands and POINTS DIRECTLY AT ZELDA! Lord Aschaffenberg lets out a loud sigh, heard across the room and everyone in turn, turns to look directly at ZELDA. There is a short bit of additional discussion.

Table Placards: Lord Aschaffenberg will seat himself at the head of the huge table.

The following staff also attend (listed in the order that they sit clockwise
from the lord): Doctor Sieger, Captain Anders Blucher, Otto Geizhals (MISSING), Olver
Gand, Bertoldt Granhof, the player characters[ Zelda, Diedrich (MISSING), Daedelus, Hanna],

and Vern Hendrick (who sits to the right of the lord). The staff

is working busily bring food and drinks to and fro.

A hastily thrown-together course of bread and wine is put up on the table along

with some uncut apples and crunchy turnip strips and vinegar.

Lord Aschaffenberg greets you all and addresses the fact that the missing persons

are going to miss this appetizer course of soup...uh...er...uh..sides and then the other courses.

Captain Anders then stands up and thanks the guards and staff for keeping everyone safe from

the beastmen of the woods.

Olver Gand, toasts to the dogs that clean up the scraps.

Next, it is up to YOU PLAYER CHARACTERS _{^{(except Diedrich)}} TO MAKE A SPEECH and toast:

Make a Charm, Guile, Piety, Education, or Leadership (1d) Perform Stunt check to see how you do

(or if you have a specific friendly social action card, you can use that instead).

..

The cobwebs end up being a bit too much for Diedrich as he attempts to slip away from the oncoming footsteps.

Discipline

Rolled: 4 Characteristic, 1 Expertise, 1 Challenge Result: 2 Challenges, 3 Boons

@Diedrich: Meanwhile, down in the basement, Diedrich lets out a bit of an odd sound. Not a complete sneeze, but sort of a quiet ^{_{"assnnnnuunnzzztd"}} sound. The footfalls on the steps stop.

"I know you're down here," says the voice from the stairs.

"Of course I'm down here," comes the voice from the chamber down the tunnel. It sounds like Giezels voice.

"Not you. Someone else."

Giezel comes stooping down the hall, through the cobwebs and debris. He's carrying a small oil lamp. The other person is not with only the light behind him, you cannot make out who it is. You can see that he is carrying a long, curved dagger...

You are thankful for the dark, but the two figures are closing in on you. At this point, your heartbeat is almost audible outside your chest.

What would you like to try?

((Is it possible for me to quickcast channel and cast pool of shadows? if so...))

Diedrich wastes no time, and focuses his power. He had to hide himself...now

Channeling

Rolled: 4 Characteristic, 1 Fortune, 1 Challenge Result: 3 Successes

(+4 power)

Diedrich grabs the hilt of his blade and waves a pool of darkness hiding the path to him.

Pool of Shadows

Rolled: 5 Characteristic, 1 Fortune, 2 Challenge Result: 4 Successes, 1 Chaos Star

((The spell is cast...! And miscast....Unless this is not allowed...))

@Diedrich:

Miscast roll: 82: Time Distortion.- Your connection to the aethyr distorts your sense of time, as the world seems to speed up around you. You do not remove any recharge tokens from your cards at the end of this round.

You whisper the incantation and draw forth the wind of ulgu to cloak yourself..but something goes wrong in your haste. Time begins to distort and speed up. You can see the outlines of the two figures looking for you (and they fail to find you), but you are unable to understand what they say to each other. Their long conversation seems to hold some importance. They then go up the stairs and leave you below..in the pitch darkness.

Would you like to go up after they have left or light one of your candles and explore deeper into the tunnel-into the chamber beyond?

[GMs note: they were going to have quite a long conversation about the plot, that you would have overheard..but alas, one must salvage one's buttocks over all else ]

Diedrich grumbled as the time distortion stopped. His master...would not know about this misstep. The last thing the apprentice needed was another lecture about the dangers of casting in a rush. Among other things.

Going down this tunnel alone seemed...like a terrible idea. But he knew it was here, and he knew there was plotting down here worth shanking someone over. For now, he needed to blend in. He quietly heads out and goes to dinner.

((Barring any obstacles.))

You poke your head out from under the rug in the Library. It appears as if everyone has left. You quickly make your way to the Great Hall. You quickly have a change of clothes (out of your dusty robes).

ALL: Diedrich and Geizals the librarian both come in a little late.

ALL: Now that everyone's here, you've got to make a social action check and make a toast or say something interesting about your progress (see post #108 above).

Hanna stands, getting the attention of the crowd. "Before we eat this meal, I would like to say a prayer." After a short pause she continues, "Almighty Shallya, please bless the people of this hold. Help heal the sick and wounded within these walls. Help protect us from our enemies."

Piety

Rolled: 4 Characteristic, 1 Challenge

Result: 2 Successes, 1 Boon

Diedrich apologizes for being late, "I'm sorry, I got ended up wandering a bit more than I intended. This play reminds me of some old lessons I had..."

Education (1D)

Rolled: 5 Characteristic, 1 Challenge Result: 1 Challenge, 2 Boons

It was mostly just useless rambling in the end...but it did make Diedrich relax a little, which was good.

THREE COURSE BANQUET

There are three courses to the meal: a spicy vegetable soup, followed
by the meat dish , and then finally a rich pudding covered in
custard. Wine and beer is plentiful, and the food is excellent. The
servants Gertie Hochen and Todd Heistlenburger

look thoroughly exhausted as they try to keep up with the
diners’ demands, and they drop plates or spill soup, to the anger of
Piersson, who scolds them for their incompetence. Large

quantities of schnapps are drunk by most diners at the table.

Venison:

Goose:

Howls in the Night
Just after the meat course (venison or goose), the dinner is interrupted by loud howling
coming from the kennels. Olver Gand makes a gruff excuse and
leaves the table. Olver remains with his hounds and does not return to dinner. He barely had a
chance to touch his second course.

By the time the dessert arrives, many diners look groggy, and Vern Hendrick falls asleep in his
pudding. When the meal ends, everyone except a few of you shuffles off
to bed, yawning uncontrollably. Doctor Sieger, Granhof, and Geizhals
remain at the table, drinking brandy and chatting animatedly about

religion, philosophy, thoughts on witch hunters and wizards, etc.

=============================================================================

@ Hanna (and anyone else that had the venison): please make an Average (2d) Resilience

check . If you fail, you begin to feel lethargic AND GAIN ONE FORTUNE POINT.

=========================================================================

ALL:

Would you like to :

• Continue the meal and ask any of the people at the table a question?
• Excuse yourself to go investigate Olver's dogs
• Drink schnapps to intoxication (gain intoxication card) and gain 1 fortune point
• Do something else?

ALL PCs: make (1d) intuition check unless you head off to bed.

[edit: behind the scenes: I try to encourage players to stay in the theme of warhammer. Drinking to intoxication, getting dirty, taking risks, and volunteering to be the guinea pig for some things usually earns a Fortune Point if it is "in character"]

Zelda uses her feminine charm and pointy ears to regale the other guests with stories about elven customs and politics.

Charm: Rolled: 3 Characteristic, 1 Expertise, 1 Challenge

Result: 1 Success, 1 Boon, 1 comet

Daedelus is eager to impress "hey everybody do you wanna see a little trick?" and performs some little hand magic: he attempts to make a spoon levitate (i have taken my rule books to school so am trying to remember how this is done) will pwer is 4 and Im guessing im at equalibrium so:Rolled: 4 Characteristic, 1 Challenge

Result: 1 Success, 1 Bane; is that done ok?

@ ALL: All of you did a fine job with your introductions (except Diedrich..but at least he wasn't recognized..that you know of). Each of you regain 1 fortune point (including Diedrich).

See post 117. What would you all like to do next?

Resilience

Zelda and Deadalus will attempt to put Hendricks to bed and enlist the help of any of the remaining guests. If none offer to help they ask where his room is, put him to bed then go exploring around the rest of the lodge. Zelda will use Leadership check to try and motivate some support : Rolled: 4 Characteristic, 2 Challenge Result: 1 Challenge, 3 Boons, so no one offers to help; maybe they just point her in the right direction?

If so they investigate any rooms they pass.

Diedrich excuses himself as well. This conversation was severely inaccurate. He figured he'd use the excuse to go check on the dogs, given that at least Olver seemed like a man that wouldn't irritate the hell out of him. He took a look around his way out, and perhaps the lone man would have some insight about the trap door...for better or worse.

Intuition

Rolled: 5 Characteristic, 1 Challenge Result: 3 Successes

@ALL: Intuition check - Those that made this - People are extremely sluggish around here and even if they drank to excess, it seems that they are more sluggish than usual.

@Hanna (yes, you regain 2 fortune points) - Quizzing the Dr. -He goes on and on about a new herb he discovered that eases the suffering of the sick and offers you several selections of brandy and schnapps. In his typical fashion, he mixes archaic Reikspiel with modern speech. ".. It is called Genau Schlaf . The leaf is an effective symptom reducer. Of course the body's own healing capabilities must take over, but the effect is enough to keep the patient calm and relaxed. The smoke of the leaf doesn't seem to be effective except in shortening the breath. The sap seems to contain significant amounts of the chemical that is sinnreich, while the leaf itself, if placed under the tongue can be a strong narcotic. It shouldn't be confused with Zwerg Sumech , which has fewer leaflets and a winged midrib. True schlaf never has the wing margin on the midrib. They also have many leaflets (usually more than 13), which are narrow and lance-shaped. All versions that form a distinctive terminal seed head, are not the slender hanging clusters of red seeds found in Mehr Schlaf. The root on the otherhand seems to contain an unsicher gift , however I've not studied that very much. Sister Sonja seems to think that I am mad for trying to keep the patients comfortable, insisting that religion is what heals the body. The Philosophische Abhandlung, when referenced in conjunction with the R eligiösen Lehren des Shallya, clearly conjoint into a unified theory of patient care. Is it not true that a simple bandage will stop bleeding faster than a prayer and that Shallya cannot provide enough miracles, especially when a priest is not around, to stem the tide of misery and suffering in the world?"

If you would like to argue his Unified Theory, this will be an opposed Duel of Wits . I will not roll for him, we'll just do your opposed roll. The difficulty is (2d) as he seems to be quite entrenched and lively with this philosophy, insofar as to recruit others around him to agree with him against you.

You need to roll EACH of these categories once at the (2d) difficulty and whatever the penalty is for being [poisoned by schlaf].

1. (2d) charm or guile
2. (2d) leadership or intimidate (fel)
3. (2d) piety
4. (2d) education or nature lore
5. (2d) medicine

You have to win 3 out of 5 rolls to win this Duel of Wits argument, otherwise you are defeated (shame threshold breached / withdraw).

..

@Diedrich - Going to talk to Olver Gand, the kennelmaster. -- see guards restless about the walls/beastmen. "Olver says, the dogs are really restless. They're barking at anything that moves [dogs currently barking in all random directions and on alert, even barking at mice and rats]. Olver mentions that of course there's a basement to this old place. it's accessible from the kitchen. It's mostly wine down there..and when Karla and I used to..[you shudder to get that image out of your head]..sometimes the wine casing would move quite a lot..I swear that thing is on a hinge..all that swinging around got crazy!"

You ignore the rest of his story as you spot a dark figure move across the manor grounds towards the house. Gand spots it too and stops talking for a minute. He quickly leashes up a barking pooch and nods to you. You, Gand and the Dog quickly head across the grounds through the light snowfall. Gand comes to the tracks. They look like this:

..