'Lamentations of the Cthulhu & Chivalry' Campaign

[Butters]

The fight continues as the Kings Arms Inn is laid to siege.

The Battle of the Kings Arms.
The party continued to barricade the Kings Arms in anticipation of further hellish attacks and much good work was done repurposing the Inns tables and barrels of ale into barricades.
This good work was unfortunately undone though by Jeffery the Innkeeper who upon hearing his neighbour's pleading and banging at the door began to strip the barricade away.
Brave Thomas tried to stop him but Jeffery was too emotional and would not listen to reason. Thomas pleaded with him again but to no avail and then he angrily went to grab Jeffery in an attempt to drag him back from the door.
This was a terrible mistake as this not only angered Jeffery who was a rather heavy set man but it also somewhat annoyed his good lady wife who went by the name of Bess.
A messy brawl started to develop in front of the door as Giulio had to wade into the scrum to help out the brave but beleaguered Doctor.
The Doctor had to beat a hasty retreat after losing some teeth from a meaty right hook from Jeffery and Giulio took on the feisty Bess.
This let Jeffery return to the door unmolested and to finish tearing down the last of the barricade.
From above there came a might cry as Saul finished off throwing out bundles of oil soaked sheets out of the widow and then setting them ablaze providing a barricade of righteous fire.
This was somewhat unfortunate for Jeffery as instead of rescuing his neighbour's he instead opened the door onto a sight from hell itself. Human shaped candles were screaming and running around in the darkness like some sort of demon accursed firework.
Jeffery let out a brief scream as the flames briefly illuminated a flesh beast which scenting fresh meat thrust a tentacle into him before clamping its various small mouths upon him and starting to chew.
Craigh and Saul came down hearing the screams and being the heroes they are they immediately set about killing the beast whilst Giulio and Thomas tried to get the door closed again.
They managed to do this even though the area around the doorway was somewhat a blazing inferno by now what with the various fires that the party had set.
Katrina calmly came down the stairs a matchlock held in her arms and aimed squarely at the flesh beast and with a click and a flash the matchcord swung down setting the charge off and hurling a lead ball into the beasts heart killing it at last.

With the Inn secure again Jeffery was granted Gods peace by Saul though he didn't seem to happy about it, Jeffery that is. Saul seemed fairly nonplussed about the whole thing.
The Inn again was plunged into stillness and the party went about checking the doors and windows, reloading weapons and getting a firmer idea about the Inns floor plan. This peaceful pause didn't last long as an infernal banging started again against the front door.
Craigh went back upstairs to keep watch from a window and it didn't look to good to him as the Inn seemed to be surrounded by a sea of ever changing creatures that were once the good inhabitants of Keswick.
This corruption now also seemed to include the villages animal stock as well. Things looked bleak to be honest though Thomas seemed excited about the possible sighting of a unicorn.
Thomas again was forced to strip a strange lady and exam her very closely (Its a dirty job but someone's got to do it)
She was covered in gore and bits of Jeffery but otherwise looked unharmed and was given a clean bill of health by the blushing Doctor..
To take her mind of the unfolding END TIMES She was given the task of boiling water to provide clean water to treat wounds, fight any fires and if necessary throw down onto the abominations if things became truly desperate.

 

Part two later.

Edited October 5, 2017 by Butters

[Butters]

The Battle of the Kings Arms Part 2

Whilst cauldrons of water were brought to boil  the rest of the party decided to give the attached storage shed a search they discovered lots of food and various general items such as lanterns and the like but nothing immediately helpful but bags were filled with whatever was thought might be handy.
This silence was short lived as the beasts renewed their attacks upon the Inn and Saul had to start injecting high velocity lead balls into craniums sometimes at uncomfortably close ranges.
The front door started to fall apart hacked and ripped into splinters by the relentless assault of the flesh beasts.
Breaking into two teams We decided to grab as many supplies as we could before retreating up the stairs to stage our last defence. With a crash the front doors and shutters break and the beasts rush into the bar. The Party run up the stairs and with a slightly concerned look on his  handsome if horrifically bruised face and a prayer upon his lips Thomas turns and hurls his home made cask bomb before retreating up with the others.The bomb goes off vaporising a couple of the nearest beasts whilst narrowly avoiding a mouth filled tentacle Thomas manages to get upstairs.
The Party blocked off the top of the stairs presenting a wall of guns and crossbows to the abominations below who could only now attack on a narrow front.There were still several hours to go before there was even a hint of daybreak.
Oh and the Village had around six hundred people living there before the accursed flesh beast outbreak on learning this from Bess the party had a momentary wobble of faith and many a hopeful pray was whispered.
The attacks started again and the fighting on the stairway became fierce even though many a beast was killed almost instantly by bolt and bullet. The air became thick and noisome with musket smoke but still the beasts attacked.
Giulio (I hope that's the right name Pete) became a target of many of the beasts as they seemed to fancy an Italian.
He managed to avoid some of the blows but they were relentless in their murderous task and he started to suffer from the constant attacks. He bravely stood firm though standing shoulder with the Scotsman and the Englishman who were still firing into the roiling flesh below.
Giulio was starting to suffer from both a terrible burning sensation and an itching sensation, he wasn't too worried as this may have been a result of a previous encounter with a milkmaid. In a quiet moment though the brave Doctor striped him naked and tied him up to conduct an examination on him finding a nasty wound on his abdomen he treated it with a salt rub and then covering it tightly in a bandage made from torn sheeting. The Doctor waited until sure that Giulio wasn't about to turn and then untied him making sure the rest of the party were aware that  Giulio had been cut.
Craigh was feeling a little sleepy so decided to have a power nap which was a good idea as he felt a little stronger for it and re-joined the fray with gusto.
The reason for the delay in attacks was soon discovered as the beasts had been silently climbing the walls and with a crash they renewed their now two pronged assault on the Inn.The fight was back on and even the Doctor fired a pistol in defence though even with advice from Saul helping the Doctor it only made a peephole in the shutter. Luckily Craigh was soon there with his ballista/crossbow and blew the creature off the wall.
Saul decided it was now time for operation flaming stairs and he well set the stairs alight. Giulio still bare chested his chest hair oiled to perfection return from the Doctor and staggered up beside Saul and made ready to fight the beasts.
Unfortunately the beasts were again attracted to him and both lashed out at him doing major damage upon him.It was here that we realised that if Giulio survived he would come back stronger.
They were sorely pressed but they still managed to fight off the attack if barely Giulio started to look feverish and his left arm seemed to ripple and twist, the skin turning a dirty reddish purple in colour.
Saul seeing this sighed and pulled out his gore soaked hatchet and with a mighty blow severed Giulio's arm. Then as the strange thick blood started to gush out he placed the hatchet into the roaring flames of the stairwell and when the blade was glowing red he turned and quickly pressed it against Giulio's stump and with a hiss the wound stopped bleeding.
Giulio swayed a look of horrified pain crossing his face but he managed to stay on his feet somehow. The doctor scrambled back to the stairwell and treated the roasted stump as best he could which was basically just wrapping it up and cleaning away any pus and the thick blood.
This seemed to be the last of the assaults as with the coming of the dawn silence returned to accursed Keswick.
We waited but nothing seemed to be moving in the village so the stunningly handsome doctor again proved his bravely by scouting outside and only finding scenes of murder, death and mayhem and weirdly a lot of strange grey piles of ash he ran back to the others and telling them of his finds they prepared to move out to head back to  Norwich and what ever dangers lay with leaving the now ghost village of Keswick with its haunted secrets behind.

Edited August 9, 2016 by Butters

[Butters]

The party is taking a little break but we hope to be back on the road soon.

 

Throwing his snapsack across his back Thomas turns to take one last look at the smouldering ruins that was once the proud village of Keswick
"We tried to save you but you were too far gone...Mallebeench will be made to pay for the corruption he brought" he half whispers to himself.
"What was that Thomas?" growled Saul as he finished reloading one of his many pistols.
Thomas looked at his soot and gore covered friend "I was just hoping that the journey home will be easier from here on and that we can deal out the Lords punishment to Mallebeench and the corrupted scum that follower him."
With a crack of his knuckles Saul raises a rare smile "Don't worry my fine Doctor we are doing Gods work here and our victory over the sinner is assured....even if I have to break each and everyone of those sinners necks myself" then turning towards the road leading to Norwich he calls out to the rest of the party "Come on you godly beggars or do you want to live for ever?"

[Butters]

They finally make it back

 

After grabbing a few hours rest the party awoke to the still smouldering ruins of Keswick.
As villagers returned from hiding out in the nearby forest the party had a brief but tense conversation with Bess the new owner of the Kings Arms about alms and compensation but luckily after realizing how heavily armed and generally pissed off the Party was at this point she allowed Katrina to convince her that she would get something if she just trusted us and allowed us to re-equip..
So with the sound of mourning and the unfortunately tasty smell of roast meat in the air the Party started off down the muddy track towards Norwich the capital of Norfolk.
The Party slogged their way through the strange slurry of mud and ash, this muck now covered the land as far as the eye could see . This muck started clinging to their boots and trousers in thick heavy clumps and almost seemingly deliberately trying to slow the Party down.
The Party soon met more locals some were building pyres whilst others tried to save what they could of their crops which seemed to have also been blighted with strange growths and staining
The blight seemed to fade out a day or so away from Keswick and the land slowly returned to normalcy
After some discussion it seems that the blight is centred on the village of Coniston and seemed to be in a roughly fifty mile radius around it. (Two days travel)
It was getting dark and cold so the Party decided it would be safer to hole up somewhere as opposed to sleeping out in the open and started to look along the road for an Inn or a cottage of some sort to rest up in.
One of the Party remembers that there is a am Inn along the road and it should be fairly close but with the weather closing in they decided to take a chance on a cottage which is just off to the side.
It looked to be in  good condition but there were no lights showing so the Party approached somewhat warily they knocked but received no answer but the good Doctor did discover a pile of dead riding horses by stepping on one in the dark as he checked around the back.
Checking out the horses Craigh recoils back after seeing that they have been ripped apart as if by some great beast and their many wounds were infected.
Pulling out pistols the Party try to rouse the cottage owners again but still they receive no reply and finding the door locked decided to back away.
The horses were examined again as they seemed to be fine riding horses and not the expected Plough horses, poking around they found an almost empty saddlebag amongst the gore, this bag contained a receipt for a sword of uncertain providence and cost five hundred shillings! which is a huge sum and whilst the buyers name wasn't shown the sellers name and address was.
Finding no shelter they Party continued on into the closing night in search of the Green Man Inn which was meant to be fairly close.
After walking a little further down the road they did soon discover the Inn and managed to awake the Green Man's  Innkeeper.
After paying for a room (Five Shillings each) we bedded down for the night but a weird buzzing was effecting us all, keeping us from the arms of Morpheus so it was a very painful breakfast as we all were suffering from headaches and the lack of sleep. There was some gossip gathered from the Inn keeper but it was vague and just told us that people outside the blight thought that the Devil came down in the storm and walked around cursing the nearby villages of Keswick and Coniston bringing disease and corruption to both people and crops, there was also talk of increased witch activity in the area.
The haggard Party gathers up their few belongings and starts back out on their journey and with a lot of grumbling and cursing they start walking.  
Towards the afternoon they come across a strange scene a bunch of wagons were stopped on the road in front of a small river, a river that no one could remember being there earlier a group of peasants were building a simple bridge lashing logs together to span the water. A wool merchant called Joseph Lytton asked us to help with the bridge as he really needed to get across and into Norwich quickly before his cargo spoiled. The strange rain had stained some of his stored wool and he wanted to unload it before it got worse.
Craigh the canny Scot bargained with him and managed to get a lift arranged and bed and board at the nearby Inn.
So in we went and after an hour or so of cold wet work a passable bridge was constructed and the wagons started to roll again.
We made it to the village of Stoct and the Bell Inn the merchant was good to his word and paid for our nights stay and the wet, headache plagued Party sat by the fire drying off and tucked into a hearty meal of rabbit pie and turnip it was a pleasant break as the heat from the fire and the good hot food helped to raise our spirits and the merchant was a jolly fellow.
This peaceful scene was interrupted by a crone who grabbed Craighs stump and drooling began speaking in tongues (or Welsh)
The Doctor in terror and horror quickly leapt up knocking his chair to the ground and pulling out his loaded pistol wildly taking aim and with a quavering voice yelled "Witch" and pulled the trigger.
With a puff of egg smelling smoke the lead ball completely missed the crone further proving her to be a witch, luckily the ball thumped into the bar as opposed to a patron.
Yelling loudly the Doctor flipped his pistol around and struck out attempting to smash the crones teeth in before she could curse someone but again the witch must have used her dark powers and manages to avoid the blow.
The bar erupted into chaos with a lot of shouting and questions being asked the Doctor turned to his fellow patrons and cried out "Beware she is a Witch, she is the cause of all this devastation and blight. have you not heard the rumours?"
Somehow the Doctors passionate argument swayed the patrons and the nearby villagers and the crone was quickly grabbed by Joseph and with a sock stuffed into her mouth she was dragged to the large gaunt oak tree which loomed over the village green. 
She was quickly strung up the Doctor gave another rousing  speech and the stool was kick away and the crone began to sway.
Being merciful and wise the Doctor paid a couple of small boys to run out and grabbing onto the crones legs pull down killing her quicker before she could work the soak out of mouth and curse the village with her dying breath.
The Party spent the night at the Inn watching his friends  the Doctor observed that the voice like buzzing could be drowned out by drinking lots of alcohol, unfortunately he didn't drink so had to resort to prayer and self flagellation which was unfortunate as he was sharing a room with the others but you cant have everything.
More tired and miserable than ever before the party awoke and continued onwards to Norwich.

The Party finally makes it back and using Joseph as a cover manage to enter the town without raising any fuss.
After a brief discussion it was agreed that Giulio would scout out the Ironworks whilst the Doctor contacted an old friend to arrange lodgings on the quiet.
At the Ironworks there was no sign of Mallebeench and the Ironworks seemed to operating at very low capacity with only one chimney producing smoke.
The Doctors friend was unfortunately if not surprisingly dead but his smoking hot widow agreed to take us in and hide our weapons as the town was patrolled by members of the N.M.A
The widower whose name was Jane Cox and her late departed husband had been a Dragoon in the N.M.A but had returned home after suffering injuries sustained. The Party encountered more signs of the effects of the storm as the rivers Wensum  and Yare were in danger of flooding in fact Giulio discovered that they were desperately sandbagging around the ironworks in an attempt to stop the foundries being flooded further.
The Party managed to arrange a meeting between them and Nelson Norton and the precincts surrounding the Cathedral were chosen as neutral territory.
Nelson took some convincing but the weight of his sons words and the documentation that the Party had brought with them was a telling factor that and the fact that Mallebeench was meant to be in Yarmouth arranging a coal shipment but Father had not heard from him in several days also helped our case.
Nelson unfortunately panicked somewhat seeing only the ruination of the business and decided it might be best to betray the other Party members in an attempt to curry favour with Zeal for the Lord Harrison and General Ireton the N.M.A commander in the area.
This was a stupid idea for many reasons one being that he was overheard telling his son this within earshot of the other party members who understandably took a dim view.
In fact to show how annoyed he was Craigh actually fired his pistol at Nelson to really ram home the futility of any attempt of betrayal.
So with gun smoke hanging in the late night air and a very annoyed Italian pointing his yet unfired pistol at him Father agreed to behave and let us try to uncover and bring to justice the evil bastard that was Mallebeench, at least for now.

 

[jagerfury]

A nice place to keep the session recaps. 

Want to add that the Peter Cakebread joined the online campaign last Sunday. That was cool!

[Butters]

A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE BREAKAGES
Part one.
This is not the homecoming I wanted or expected after the terrible, ungodly things I witnessed at Naseby I was looking forward to the safe comforts of home. I needed time to make peace with what I saw and ask God to forgive me for my failures, I should have been able to save more of those brave boys but my skills were lacking.
The weather seems to match my mood, foul and dark the constant rain washing away the filth but leaving everything damp and cold. If I still had my practice I would be making a pretty penny offering cold cures but no I'm here instead trying to stop a madman, well at this particular moment I'm trying to return scissors to my Mothers hairdresser a man called Tobias who seems to be another yet another link in the chain leading to Mallenbench.
So here we are in the western part of Norwich accompanied by one of Fathers watchdogs a man by the name of Arthur in the pouring rain our boots covered in mud and other unwholesome filth when all sane and goodly folk are in doors and sat next to an open fire trying to drive the damp away.
Though it seems that the Lord has a plan for us a plan that involves talking to Mother and then her hairdresser and getting soaked to the skin whilst doing it, truly he works in mysterious ways. So here we are near Cow hill and looking at a closed hairdressers.
After several futile minutes of knocking on the door and peering through dark dusty windows it seems that the hairdresser is most definitely not at home it also seems the hairdresser has another source of income as the needle and bobbin symbol over his shop suggests he also a tailor of sorts.
Tired of slowly drowning in the street we decided to inquire at his neighbors Hyde's House of Bubbles, a laundry.
After a moment of staring uncomfortably at the rather fulsome laundry workers who were working in such steamy conditions and ...well lets not dwell too much on my sinful thoughts at that particular moment but lets just say its going to be a long night of praying and self flagellation before I am right with the Lord again, why does he test me so?
We didn't get too far with the lovely ladies but the owner a formidable looking woman with hugely overdeveloped arms and who went by the name of Mrs Marie Hyde did inform us that she hadn't seen Tobias for several days but that was not unusual as he was always going to parties and mixing with the upper levels of Norfolk society and such.
She didn't seem to like him all that much but before we could ask her anymore questions she threw us back out onto the muddy streets, apparently she didn't appreciate the fact that we were dripping filthy water everywhere.....damn women no sense of whats important.
So finding ourselves back outside we trudged towards the other lead we had the seller of that rather expensive sword, Reinhardt's Imports and Exports which was just around the corner and owned by one Siegfried Reinhardt he sounded a little foreign to me but hopefully he would be a decent sort.
Luckily unlike the hairdresser Reinhardt's was open for business and as we muddy band entered his rather curious store to the ringing of small bells the man himself appeared like so many shopkeepers as if by magic and asking if we wanted any help in making a purchase.
Unfortunately for him we were tired and soaked through by this point and so we were fairly blunt and direct and after Reinhardt protested and pretended to know nothing about any sword Arthur and Giulio started knocking to the floor some of the various pots and jars that were displayed on the nearby shelves causing them to smash in a variety of spectacular ways, this was expected behavior from Giulio as he is Italian but I guess Arthur was just clumsy? but either way the old, pale and terribly thin man ceased pretending and told us what we wanted to know about the sword and its mysterious buyer.
It seemed that Reinhardt was not just a heathen who sold.....I can barely write this down but I must be brave, he sold Christmas decorations! and other Papist mummery to well...heathens but he also dealt in relics and in this case it was a relic of ill omen, the sword belonged to an order of Knights known as the Kites and had a dark and bloody history attached to it.
Mallenbench was involved in the sale and it appears that he is well known as a dangerous man to the criminals in Norwich as Reinhardt turned even paler when he mentioned him and warned us that Mallenbench was a bad man to cross as he had powerful friends and was a singular man in his focus.
More pottery slipped through hands to shatter on the floor and Reinhardt was almost crying as he begged us to stop destroying his stock. He quickly told us he that the buyer was a Cheswick Ord? and the sword had to be delivered to him in some misbegotten hamlet outside Norwich and that Mallenbench was just using him as a middle man, He swore he didn't want to sell the sword but you didn't say no to a man like Mallenbench, well at least not twice if you wanted to stay healthy.
Reinhardt's fear turned to disgust when Tobias was mentioned he just knew him as an effeminate fop and of no consequence.
Arthur meanwhile had stopped knocking into things and stood still with a pained look upon his face I was just about to ask him if he was suffering from the bloody flux when he started to mutter 'I remember that Cheswick name now it was during that safety meeting at the Ironwork's. One of the new hired hands said it and Mallenbench turned around and punched him straight in the gut before he could finish the sentence. Damn strange now that I think back to it but I was there just to guard the Leviathan so thought nothing more about it as it was none of my business'
So even more proof of Mallenbenchs perfidious nature and the fact that this scheme whatever it is was a long time in the making and involves many people even if most seem to be pawns.
I still don't understand where my Father comes into this was he just a pawn or something greater? was he just used as a cover so Mallenbench could start digging allegedly for coal? and using Father as a means of worming his way into Norwich society especially into Henry Ireton's circle.
We certainly had lot to worry about but my thoughts were distracted by Reinhardt who was now creepily talking about my old flame Echo and her extensive knowledge of Dutch needlepoint. Why were we still talking to this heretic? this grubby little man of trade.
Luckily Giulio and Saul moved in to deal with the worm and I didn't have to bloody my fists upon his face, he had a lucky escape I can tell you for my dander was well and truly up.
As he was being escorted to the back he turned and cried 'They will all be here tomorrow night' I do believe that he somehow thought that Saul and Giulio were going to do him some harm and was trying to buy his life with some more sordid information.
Saul paused and stopped dragging him towards the backroom 'What did you say? why are these people coming to your store?'
Reinhardt was almost babbling now 'Not all people are into the bloodless life of a puritan' he obviously didn't know about Saul as hes a very bloody puritan if a little too trusting of horses.
Unfortunately it seemed that we needed this shopkeeper alive if only to uncover the other heretics and it seems he would be interested in buying that strange stone head off us but I am loathe to sell him it as who knows what the dastard could do with it.
We left him scared and looking sadly at a a large pile of pottery shards muttering something about a fire sale and we left with a lot of new information, confusing information but all helpful in building up a picture of what Mallenbench was up to.
We will place the store under a close watch and come up with a plan of action for when those mysterious others arrive for tomorrow nights sale.

Edited December 17, 2016 by Butters

[Butters]

Playin' in the street gonna be a big man some day You got mud on yo' face You big disgrace Kickin' your can all over the place.
Part two
So after leaving the store we discuss plans and its decided that someone watched the store and since Thomas had the biggest hat he would watch one side of the store but Arthur has a cunning plan and decides to corrupt a small boy with a shiny penny and have the boy watch the building.
Suddenly as we finished of the plan whilst  standing outside Ozzie the Ostler's stables and horse feed emporium (Where the small boy was employed) a ruckus broke out on the previously quiet street.
A group of young men, apprentices by the looks of them were shouting at each other and as they neared us a fight broke out amongst them punches and stones started to fly and we were dragged into this whirlwind of anger.
One of the young men upon seeing Craighs foreign cast stepped out of the main brawl and pointing at him cried out loudly ' You foreign immigrant scum this is all your fault, coming here and nicking our jobs' and proceeded to try and punch Craigh in the face.
Luckily the canny Scot easily dodges the blow and with a smile upon his face says 'Och wee laddie ye will have to do better than that' which unfortunately enrages some of the other apprentices who stop fighting amongst themselves and with rolled up sleeves head towards the plucky Scot. 
Bravely the Doctor knowing that his skills may be needed later decides to back into the stable through the nearby open doorway.
The fighting continues outside mud, stones and punches are still being thrown as the violence steps up a notch.
The canny Scot also decides to back away if only to give his new clockwork arm room to swing.
Saul lets out a curse as he is forced to block a blow and Guilio is also made to avoid a vicious elbow.
The fight is on and there is no substance to the rumours that the good Doctor was taking bets on its outcome.
The sounds of breaking cartilage and bone ring out loudly as our muddy band are forced to defend themselves.
Ralph takes stock of the situation and sneaks away apparently to protect the Doctor but really he just wanted a quick puff on his pipe.
The handsome Doctor his legs splayed apart majestically roars forth and delivers a heartfelt plea to the apprentices to stop fighting and join together in fighting the common enemy. Unfortunately since the apprentices are uncultured the plea falls on deaf ears.
The fighting steps up as more and more blows are thrown and the party is forced to parry and dodge to avoid the incoming frenzy of blows.
The fighting continues and becomes a disorganized brawl, blows thrown and dodges made and then suddenly Arthur who had been fighting away to one side lets out a terrible cry as his left knee buckles and he falls to the floor it seems that someone had managed to hit the back of his leg with a cobblestone.
Arthur enraged rolls and strikes out hitting a nearby apprentice in the bollocks his blow powered by righteous anger was so strong that the sound of a rib breaking could clearly be heard  even through the driving rain and sounds of combat.
The Apprentice struck stood there a look of pure horror upon his face with Arthur's hand disappearing somewhere into him, it was as if Arthur was wearing him like some kind of grotesque puppet.
Arthur looked somewhat concerned as he had to twist and pull his hand free, the Presbyterian apprentice sliding slowly to the floor his eyes rolled up into his head and nothing but a soft moan escaping from his twisted lips.
There is a horrified pause as everyone looks at this but the fighting starts up again but somewhat half heartedly with people casting horrified looks back at the new eunuch who was writhing on the floor.
Saul cursing loudly decides enough is enough and spinning his pistol around clicks back the hammer and tells those nearby to 'F%£k off now play times over' the apprentices nearby throw up their hands and back off.
Guilo strikes out with his clockwork arm landing a mighty blow upon one of the retreating apprentices almost bringing him to his knees but the apprentice manages to stagger away into the rain swept streets after his friends.
The fighting members of the party stagger back into the stables and collapse onto any nearby bales of hay.
Arthur limping badly is the last to enter the stable closing the door behind him he looks at the haggard party and says
'Gadzooks those f%£king  dastards have f^%ked my knee up good and proper well at least we don't have to worry about the militia getting involved as there is no way those lazy dastards would be out in this f&$king weather so thank the Lord for small mercies. So Thomas you're a medical man how about taking a look at my knee'
Thomas smiles and opens his small medical bag whilst the others look on in horror.........

Edited January 27, 2018 by Butters

[jagerfury]

Other players have started to contribute session reports on the community page which has really made the story come alive. 

Edited October 26, 2016 by jagerfury

[jagerfury]

On 8/6/2016 at 2:32 AM, Butters said:

 

At the bottom of this weird and terrifying complex waited an aspect of Yog Sototh and it appears that he wasn't happy to see us, luckily one of the group had secretly kept the red bell and rang it again for all his worth summoning his own personal demon called the Corrector of Sins. Thankfully the insanity and pure brown trouserness of the situation caused us to black out leaving the gods to punch it out among themselves.

Not that it should matter much, but it was an aspect of Shub-Niggurath which awaited deep below. I was getting my Mythos Gods mixed up. Hopefully any future artifacts and symbology encountered will keep the whole thing straight 

[jagerfury]

Some aspects of the campaign captured in pictures.

[Butters]

We are still alive!

There has been a couple of games since the last posting one was covered by Saul and I've been a bit forgetful so to bring us up to almost speed,

The party splits up Saul and Craigh head off to Nutley's house to see what they can find out about the missing Tinkerer whilst the Doctor and the others waited back at the stables to maintain the watch on the Import/exporter and to question the stable hand about the various comings and goings of his odd neighbours. Unfortunately a couple of players couldn't make it so the only active player at the stable was the good Doctor. (More later but I've got to go to work damn it so below is a report from the next game)

Thomas and Giulio escape from the stables leaving the Tenebrous hand and the good citizens of Cow hill trying to put out the flames.
They meet up with Craigh who was coming back up from Nutley's house and after a quick discussion they decide the time is now right to break into the shop of Tobias and after a quick dagger between the door and the frame they are inside.
The shop is dark and looks to be fairly low end and basic.
The few rooms are searched and a fine new outfit is awaiting collection on its dress makers dummy and instructions referring to it are found in the ledger, it seems to belong to a man with a familiar name one Cheswick Orb, the Gentleman who recently paid 500 shillings for a particular cursed sword.
As well as the suit a piece of parchment was found possibly from Mallebeench himself.
The note Says 'When you have it let me know' (This handwriting looks similar to that in one of the hidden books found in Nutley's house)
Everything else looks to be in order and the party take the opportunity to pick up a change of clothing before they try to sneak away but unfortunately they soon run into a N.M.A patrol which was sent from the garrison to help deal with the now blazing fire.

The party are forcibly conscripted into the temporary fire department of Norwich even after a brief argument from the Doctor on how evil it is to force these poor one armed nutters into a bucket gang but again the Doctor somehow ends up making things worse possibly by calling the soldiers various rude names when his pleas fall on deaf ears.

So hiding at the back of group they end up jogging back up to the fire and the Hand, luckily the local gang decides they don't want any Imperial entanglements and tell the soldiers to sling their hook and after heated words are exchanged between them someone fires a pistol and a riot breaks out between the people of Cow hill and the soldiers.
During this confusion Craigh gets shot in the arm again. (We try to get away with it hitting his clockwork arm but Jay is evil)
Badly wounded Craigh stumbles to the floor the rest of the party quickly drag him away behind a nearby wall for some much needed first aid
Giulio then hears something strange and being a red blooded Italian decides to investigate, seeing a small figure watching the party from a nearby roof he decides to give chase.
The creature seeing an Italian with his dander up climbing towards him turns and chitters something (Possibly rude) and breaks out into some extreme parkour.
Seeing this and not to be outdone by a bloody Imp Giulio girds his loins and also starts to run along the rain swept roofs as well matching the Imp leap for impossible leap.
The creature finally leaps back down to street level at the end of a nearby roof and lands on the shoulders of a heavily wrapped up indiviudal who unfortunately has his bow drawn and aimed at Giulio as he appears and without a pause the stranger lets loose.
Arrows strike the brave Italian and the wounds caused quickly start to burn and itch weirdly but grunting away the pain the Italian pulls out his pistol and returns fire.
A weird duel now breaks out and whilst the crack of pistol and the twang of bowstring would normally bring curious bystanders over to look but with this driving rain being so loud the fight goes largely unnoticed.
The Doctor who is very unhappy about being left alone in this dangerous neighbourhood with a badly injured Scotsman decides after hearing a blood curdling scream that he has to leave one patient behind and go in search of he suspects another. And after some climbing around and box stacking the Doctor finds the Italian laying on a nearby roof with two arrows stuck in him and these arrows smell fishy.
The Doctor remembering the strange smell decides that time is of the essence and quickly pulls out of his bag one of the strange potions he recovered from the Kings Arms and luckily its an antidote to the poison that's already burning up the Italian.
After a very scary journey back down to street level whilst dragging a semi conscious Italian behind him the Doctor makes it safely back to Craigh.
The battered party regroups and briefly rests and the decision is made that they really need a safe place to rest up so it's painful way back to the house of Nutley in hope of a rest and some much needed hot food as after all it wasn't as if Mr Nutley would mind.

Edited November 24, 2016 by Butters

[dawnrazor]

Awesome write-up there, o Cicero of Cthulian lore!

[Butters]

The story continues

 

The party make their way to Nutleys house in the hope of some hot food and some much needed shut eye before resuming the hunt. They made it back without too much incident avoiding any large groups of people especially if they were in uniform.
Thomas was wondering if he should get in contact with his Father to see if he could help identify the corpse in the basement which had been found by Craigh and Saul earlier as Randolph Nutley he also wanted to see if his Father knew of this strange Orb/Ord chap since he seemed to be a big spender and he may have moved in the same society circles as him.

So it was a thoroughly soaked and bedraggled group which eventually made it back to that strange house and after getting the wounded bedded down and made comfortable (Giulio insisted on having soft kitty warm kitty sang to him before he would go to sleep) the less injured then prepared a meal made up of the last of their travel rations and tried to dry out their Buff coats etc.

As the others busied themselves with various chores upstairs the Doctor still pondering about contacting his Father descended the rickety steps that led down into the basement to check upon the corpse to see what further insight he could glean from it.
Approaching the hole that had been made in the false wall and stepping through he heard a click and felt the floor tile directly below his foot move slightly downward  'Bugger' went the Doctor as the corpse sat up and threw several spinning blades at his face.

The others were made aware that something was afoot when their quiet conversations were interrupted by the now unfortunately familiar sound of the Doctor screaming. Rushing down to the basement they were met halfway by a terrible sight, the Doctor was staggering up the stairs his face a red ruin and when he saw the others approach he removed his hand which was clamped across his face revealing a gaping hole where his left eye should be and screamed at them 'He took my fucking eye! it was a trap, the bastards alive'

Craigh and Saul exchanged a worried glance, that body they saw in the basement couldn't be alive it was dead and long dead at that.
(There was some book checking and some and some rewind moments here as Mark tried to remember what the injury rules were and what exactly his hit points were)
Ralph performed some emergency first aid but the Doctors eye was beyond saving as Craigh and Saul went down into the basement weapons drawn and ready to meet whatever was down there the Doctors weeping stopped long enough for them to hear him say something about bloody tiles clicking and then there was a thud as if a body was hitting a wooden floor this was followed by a quiet 'Whoops' from Ralph.
Saul raised an eyebrow and Craigh after a moment broke out into a crooked grin. As they slowly approached the hole and raising their candle high they were able to see that the body was now sitting up on the table, both of its arms had been replaced by clockwork devices, devices that seemed designed to spin and hurl long jagged blades out from where a mans fingers would normally be. In the glow of the candle Craigh and Saul could just make out the glittering reflection of chains and pulleys and with a relieved sigh their earlier thoughts had been confirmed it wasn't an un-dead monster but a simple if horrific trap.

As the unconscious Doctor received treatment from Ralph who seemingly took way too much enjoyment in heating up the poker to cauterize the Doctors eye socket Craigh and Saul discussed how they were going to disable the trap and in a moment had decided on one.
Craigh took aim with his own clockwork arm at one of the chains connected to the pulleys above and fired....missing completely but confirming that the corpse was most definitely dead as it now sported a rather large blade in its chest.
So looking somewhat sheepish Craigh turned to Saul and asked 'So what was plan B again' Saul glowers the candle in his had sending strange shadows across his face 'Shoot it again you tartan obsessed fool and don't miss this time'
And so with a steadying gulp and a rude retort on his lips Craigh fires again this time cleanly breaking a chain in half causing one of the corpses arms to drop to the side with a thump.
Craigh looking smugly across at Saul, bows tosses of a salute and heads back upstairs calling back that he was going to get a broom handle to double check the tiles before proceeding further into the room.
As he mounts the stairs he pauses and cocks his head to one side he thought he had heard something moving on the....roof? and on the couch the Italian stirs and mumbles.
'Saul we have company, on the roof I think' hisses Craigh back down to Saul who immediately draws his mortuary sword and makes his way up to the Scotsman side.
A quick plan of action is agreed upon Craigh would go up to the top floor whilst Saul would act as bait by going out of one of the external doors making as much noise as he could and when whatever was on the roof went to investigate Craigh would pop out of the window and shoot it down.(Hopefully as Craigh had rolled a lot of 96's by this point )
Saul went to the door making sure the nearby rush lights were still lit and would be protected from any sudden gusts of wind seeing that everything was set he paused took a deep breath and threw open the door and stamped out.
Craigh was in position an intent look on his face as he listened to the sound of tiny feet scurrying across the roof tiles his crossbow tracking across the ceiling as he counted down '3,2,1' and throwing open the window he cries 'Got you' but in that brief moment as he looks upon the creature which is illuminated by the moon and the light from the still glowing Cow hill neighbourhood he freezes unable to squeeze the crossbows lever as he gazes into a face full of eyeballs and fur.
The Imp cackles at the horrified face of the Scotsman and with a strange grin it leaps away from the roof and heads back into the darkness of the nearby alleyways.
There was a lot more but I can't read my notes (Its not my bad handwriting honest it must be something to do with my new mono vision)

Edited December 11, 2016 by Butters

[jagerfury]

The good Dr. forgot to mention that the Senior Norton was called to the Nutley house in tinker town and confirmed the corpse was Nutley. Nelson Norton also recognized the book in cypher was in Mallebench's hand.

[jagerfury]

Goodman and Norton ran a staid and honorable session this morning even though three other regular players were unable to make the session, in the process expanding the known environs and goings-on of our alternative 1645 Norwich. To wit; Lower East Trostust (northeast of Norwich castle just a bit)is a neighborhood where your cheap physicians, notaries, paralegals and unscrupulous attorneys can be found. Inky Pete held a small office on Pitt Street in a building known as Quaker. Just around the corner on Coburg street the doughty Puritan pair sought lunch at the Dying Mask. I will leave it to them to describe the cold afternoon events which transpired within these locals. The reliability of Lower East Trostust street urchins is being tested which is way cool.

[Butters]

Lessons learnt from yesterdays game,

1. Make sure your microphone is not under your nose especially if you are a hefty chap with a cold unless your aim is to make a cheap tundra soundscape.
2. Never ever go into an Inn if Jagerfury is the G.M these places are deadly even though having the thugs slipping around on the spilled porridge was fun.
3. Whilst table flipping is cool in the movies its not so much fun when you fail the roll to do it in combat and then it just leads to an embarrassed silence followed by some giggling from the attacking thugs..
4. Saul needs more pistols as Thomas is more of a lover than a fighter and he needs protecting.
5. Urchins charge too much....even though I nearly paid the cheeky tyke a shilling instead of a penny before being reminded about the currency.

Thanks again to Saul and Jagerfury for an awesome game which gave us some time to think about the mystery and still have a very tense combat (having low H.Ps In this game is very scary especially if you have left your Buff coat on the drying rack)

Edited December 12, 2016 by Butters

[Butters]

17 hours ago, jagerfury said:

The good Dr. forgot to mention that the Senior Norton was called to the Nutley house in tinker town and confirmed the corpse was Nutley. Nelson Norton also recognized the book in cypher was in Mallebench's hand.

(Looking sheepish) Ah that explains the 'Talk to Dad?' part of my notes I later learnt that we also arranged to see an old School pal of the Doctors (Inky Pete) to see if he could translate some of the books (As soon as we figure out which book is safe to do so) and the elder Norton was eventually asked if he could make some discreet inquires about this Ord fellow.

Edited December 12, 2016 by Butters

[Simlasa]

This is some really great game session write-up-ing. Inspirational. And fun to try to recognize the bits from various LotFP modules.

Thanks for sharing!

Edited December 13, 2016 by Simlasa

[jagerfury]

Simlasa thanks for noticing the weaving in and out of published material I've been using during the campaign. A Single Small Cut was used for the opening session when I realized I needed to get up at the ungodly hour of 6am and deliver a game cause it looked like people were going to show up. I can't believe this all started like a year ago and no I did not have a plan besides sleeping in and forgetting I committed to such a mad excercise. Since then I have been hacking Cakebread & Walton's Clockwork & Cthulhu supplement, Patrick Stuart's Deep Carbon Observatory, Zzarchov Kowolski's "Pale Lady" and Kelvin Green's "Forgive Us". I'm not worried about spoilers cause I use these materials as a jumping off place to drive my own sick imagination. What has really kept the campaign going is the PC's add so much to a good session during live play I am never short of fodder for new adventure situations. Truly no one at the table can say which way this all goes.

[jagerfury]

Creatures and contacts.

Edited December 13, 2016 by jagerfury

[Butters]

On ‎13‎/‎12‎/‎2016 at 1:30 AM, Simlasa said:

This is some really great game session write-up-ing. Inspirational. And fun to try to recognize the bits from various LotFP modules.

Thanks for sharing!

Cheers man, its been fun writing some of these after action reports since so much crazy cool stuff happens during the games its been a fun way to remember them.

Also the world needs to know the truth about the heroic and magnificent deeds of the handsome and yet modest Doctor, a man whose numerous acts of self sacrifice are too many to list no matter how hard he tries but it mainly involves helping those less fortunate than himself for example his poor cousin Ralph. 

Edited October 5, 2017 by Butters

[Butters]

Mystery and Mayhem

 

Leaving the others behind to recover their health and to clear out the Satanic filth in Nutleys house Saul and Thomas braved the crowded streets of Norwich and head towards the rabbit warren of Lower east Trostust in search of the Doctors good friend Peter known to most as 'Inky Pete'
The Doctor was wearing several gore streaked bandages which covered his missing eye under his Plague mask whilst Saul made do with a heavy scarf wrapped around the lower part of his face with his hat pulled down tightly this was done in an attempt to disguise ourselves from any prying eyes and to keep us warm as the weather had again taken a turn for the worse and become bitterly cold.
(Thinking about it the Plague mask might have attracted more attention than we would have liked)
Trudging through the mud filled streets and forcing themselves through the refugee filled streets they cast weary glances upwards and behind  to see if they were being followed they slowly made their to Inky Pete's office. 
It seemed that Inky Pete had turned to the dark side as he was now working as an assistant to various Norwich based lawyers.
After a brief moment of totally understandable confused horror on Inky Pete's part on having such an odd pair turn up outside his office introductions were made and friendships renewed.
After some polite conversation where we learn that Sir Henry Ireton was still ill and barely seen leaving control of Norwich in the hands of Zeal for the Lord Harrison Inky Pete finally got the kettle on and started to read the Latin book as that was the smaller of the tomes and Latin was almost his mother tongue by now.
The Most Holy And Sacrosanct history of the Blessed Order of Kites
This book appeared to be a journal of sorts written by a Knight called Beauregard Mallebeench it details the early history of the Order from their start and their involvement in the Baltic Crusades.
It seems the corruption started here as they were somewhat isolated and had to recruit men at arms from the locals and any European scum that they came across, these men soon outnumbered the original knights and these new men brought their brutal ways into the order and they slowly became the norm.
It also seemed that trophy hunting became normal amongst the Order and the weapons and  talisman's of the Pagan enemy became symbols of how mighty the Knight was.
In fact Beauregard himself became a Captain within the Order after defeating the original owner of a certain ruby bell and claiming it for himself and the order.
The Bell was used to summon a daemon which was compelled through unknown means to fight on behalf of the Order but Beauregard warns that the bell should only be used twice otherwise their would be dire circumstances something involving a gate being opened to the realm of Bazayer(?) the pale.
The cursed sword is also briefly mentioned surprisingly it was a rapier but one that would not break no matter how tough the fight its other benefit was that it would be guaranteed to always draw blood whenever it was unsheathed.
The downside was that the blade did not care where the blood came from be it friend or foe it didn't matter the blade only cared that the blood should flow. 
Beauregard Mallebeench seems to pass on sometime during the period that the Order is recalled to England and comes to an end for some reason. The few remaining Knights destroy many of their unholy items and finding that the bell could not be destroyed and that it was too dangerous for them to use as Beauregard seemed to have taken the secret of its control to his grave they decided to place it into his tomb where it was hoped it would remain safely hidden until Judgement day.
After taking in this baleful information it was grudgingly decided to leave the Greek book with Inky in the hope it would reveal more information and provide some clues as to what Mallebeench was up to, though Saul was concerned that the book may corrupt Inky in some way agreeing the Doctor said yes to Saul's plan to keep Inky on a short leash.
After discussing the Journal and more local problems (The blight, refugees and the growing fear of famine) Saul and Thomas left Inky Pete's office throwing a concerned glance at each other as Inky was already bent over the Greek tome muttering to himself as his tea slowly went cold.
As they hadn't eaten a proper meal in days the party decided to repair to a local inn for some small beer or in Saul's case hopefully clean water and a warming meal of Pie and potatoes.
We should have known better as the Inns sign had suspiciously the muse Melpomene painted onto it and the legend The Dying Mask carved deeply underneath it.
The tavern was fairly quiet with only a few workmen looking patrons propping up the bar Saul and Thomas got a table near the door and ordered a couple of drinks and their lunch.
Thomas looked worried and kept rubbing the bandage s covering his eye but he was happily chatting away about the forthcoming meal it seemed as if he was trying to forget about the terrible history of the Kites if only for a moment.
Saul on the other hand was quiet and brooding casting suspicious glances around the bar 'Relax my melancholy friend a good hot meal will make all our troubles fade away if only for a short time' said Thomas a wan smile upon his lips.
'I don't think one pie no matter how tasty it is will make things better, I doubt things will ever be better again' Saul growled back.
'Who said anything about it being only one pie Saul we have some time before we are expected back' laughed Thomas 'I fully intend to eat every morsel that this tavern has to offer'
Saul slowly shook his head always amazed about the Doctors refusal to be dour for too long no matter the problem.
The ordered drinks arrived Saul sipping at the lukewarm water whilst the Doctor quaffed his small beer spilling most of it and letting out a satisfied belch 'I'm not going to get drunk on this but by thunder it feels good to drink something not out ditch for a change' laughed Thomas he was going to say more but Saul tensed up and pointed to something to the side of Thomas.The taverns door had opened and a group of men had entered and after a brief pause to look around the bar the group of men start to walk towards the seated party there seemed to be a somewhat heated but hushed conversation going on between two of them but then the burliest of them shouts "Enough" jabs a dirty finger at the party and growls 'I f*%king knew I recognised you B%$tards hand over our bosses gear or you will get a smack'
A brief attempt at bluffing was tried and failed and then the fight was on.
Saul leapt up drawing his weapons as the barkeep ducked down behind his counter  "I can't waste time talking to you... I'll stop that mouth with steel!" Saul barked sardonic till the end.
"Flip the table Thomas and get behind it"  Saul called over his back as he advanced upon the thugs.
Thomas tried but since it was a heavy table he only ended up knocking the tankard's and the Porridge starters onto the floor.
"Arse" muttered the Doctor and decided to draw his sword for the third only time since Naseby as he staggered past the muck on the floor and towards the thug on the left.
A brutal fight broke out Saul again showing his mastery at the art of killing raining vicious blows against his opponents as the Doctor taking full advantage of his opponent slipping on some cooling porridge sliced the thug across his chest opening up a rather nasty cut on his chest. 
Even with Saul fighting the party was slowly forced back and they decided to make a fighting retreat to the taverns door but then the tide changed a thug made a small mistake and Saul capitalised on it and was able to dispatch one opponent after another in quick succession and from the jaws of defeat the party was left breathless with two cooling corpses at their feet and one thug though badly wounded subdued.
Thomas slightly wobbly and obviously in pain strode towards the still cowering Innkeeper, he reached down and dragged the poor man up by his hair "Ah good Innkeeper I was wondering if their was any chance of a takeaway?"

Edited December 19, 2016 by Butters
Misplaced thugs

[Butters]

                                                                                            An unfortunate guest leads to underground fun. 

Saul and Thomas deal with the fallout from the bar fight by paying off the landlord who might have a line of tasty yet oddly textured pies for sale soon but with the specter of famine looming over the town beggars can't be choosers. 
The surviving thug is patched up and the gruesome twosome pour some rot-gut over him and half carry half drag him back to Nutleys. 
Luckily they avoid most people due to the worsening weather but did bump into Craigh and Guilio who had decided to venture out to find out what the hell was going on. 
 
The party get the thug back into the house and tie him down to a chair in the kitchen and whilst the ropes are being tightened a blazing fire is set in the nearby fireplace and the party soon start to dry off and when they are all toasty the questioning begins. 
 
The Doctor returns from removing any left over Satanic imagery from the house and gets to work, the thug reveals a few more pieces of the puzzle, 
He was a Tenebrous hand member and they had been told where we were by a German known as Gerwan(?) who we now suspect was the master of the strange Imp and their instructions were to follow us and recover any books they found on us. 
He also told us that they had split up, some to confront us in the bar whilst the others went to find out why we had visited Inky Pete s. 
'Damn it, I have placed Inky in trouble, if he's hurt I will make sure all of you face the Lords justice' cried out the Doctor and he leant heavily onto the thugs injured leg bringing tears and screams from the thug. 
Craigh had to pull the Doctor off before the thug passed out from the pain and calmed him down with a few whispered word 'Thomas we need answers, he needs to live a little longer at least my old friend' 
Taking a steadying breath the Doctor returns to the thug 'I can save that leg you know as I'm a Physician but you must tell me everything' the thug looks through his tears and seeing the grim looks on all of faces looking down at him he sobs and nods his head 'I will tell you everything just don't hurt me anymore' 
So after the interrogation the party learnt that the Tenebrous hand was, led by a man called Tommy Gunn who worked with a guy called, Mallebench and the relationship was very profitable one gaining foot soldiers the other political clout and money. Tommy had Inky Pete and the merchant,Rimehart held at a house in Cow Hill known as Blatters. 
Mallebench was not in the town but his second in command (Gerwan) was at least up to a couple of days ago and the cherry on top was the identity of a traitor in the N.M.A garrison a Captain by the name of Richard Fleet. 
Unfortunately the thug didn't survive the fire side chat and passed away due to blood loss and he ended up in a shallow grave in the basement and the Doctor didn't seem to upset about this result and a hardness had entered his eyes that hadn't been there before. 
 
As the party discussed what had been revealed and how best to use it the Doctor sneaks away to get some personal time and do some shopping, the recent conversation with his old friend Inky playing through his mind as he fought through the wind and rain in search of a Buckler shop. 
After haggling with a shop keeper and becoming the proud owner of a very, very small shield and finding himself low on funds and yet near Norton Mansions he decided to pop in and speak to dear old Dad and find out what he had found out about Cheswick Ord, oh and to see about some pocket money back pay. 
 
Further mentally scarred after his visit but forty shillings better off and with some useful information about the mysterious Cheswick who seemed to be a rich textile merchant who was against some of the new governments policies especially the new laws against the theater but whose wealth had spared him from any serious punishments so far. The Doctor trudged his way back to Nutleys hoping that rest of the party had come up with a rescue plan of some kind. 
 
 
Luckily they had they had and with some last minute input from the Doctor who being a loyal son of Norwich remembered the natural tunnels that wormed there way under Norwich and that his family had won a contract some years back to expand the towns sewer network and that his grandfather had taken him down a few of the converted chalk tunnels explaining that they had saved a fortune by just re-purposing the tunnels into sewers and that these tunnels also ran under the Cow Hill area. 
 
The Party gathered their weapons and buckled their armour on and prepared to wade through the muck of Cow hill one more time though in this case literally. 
 
The party make it through the dank tunnels with only a few swear words, splashes and the occasional detour and after removing a grate find themselves in a courtyard fairly near the house of Blatters. 
 
Saul and Craigh check out the nearby area and spot something odd there seemed to be a few heavyset men standing on nearby corners selling chestnuts which was weird due to the fact that the weather was by now almost a storm and there were very few people on the streets even the refugees had found somewhere sheltered to wait out the weather. 
After dealing with a few urchins who as urchins everywhere were immune to the weather and were having a slush ball fight in a driving blizzard the party formed a plan and began to sneak towards the house of,Blatters. 
 
The party made it to the house without being spotted mainly due to the storm as some of the party were as sneaky as elephants the more martial of the party made strange hand gestures which ended up meaning that the party should pause as voices had been heard inside. 
 
A brief discussion and some hard-core violence latter the two potential sentries lay dead on the ground floor and a passing urchin ended up with a new and unusual football. The party quickly secure the ground floor and slowly mount the stairs to find out if they were in time to save Inky and why the Hand was holding Rimehart.

[jagerfury]

The PC's get themselves into some close quarter fighting in the halls and rooms of the second floor. I gave the mooks death at negative hit points while the major NPC's got the benefit of the full rules. The bloodletting was severe on both sides, but the PC's held the field for one hot minute.

 

[jagerfury]

So the highlight of today's session was the PC's dumping the captured Sam Wills and the badly tortured Inky Pete off at the asylum for safe keeping. They paid three orderlies off who came out into the streets to look for a couple of escaped inmates/patients to take the two in their place. I have to say the PC's took full advantage of the Cow Hill Random Encounter table!