Summary 44

Arriving at Bocholt, the place seems in upheaval at your return. Some form of demonstration is taking place, primarily amongst the sailors and lighters. However, as you arrive all hell breaks loose! A number of explosions and shooting from multiple directions causes mass panic. When peace is restored, you find many dead people - but mostly you survive without injury. Arrested twice, you eventually begin to investigate what happened, discovering a benefactor in one of the Council, Alexander Petrovitch Stukov. He appears to mistake Whyss'Parr for Aer Dressair.

Over the course of the investigation you deduce the following:

1. Three explosions occurred. Two appeared to be carried bombs and a third under a cart being used by a local agitator, Polynin.
2. Amongst the dead are 12 lighters (including most of the leadership), 5 unknowns, 6 boat-building apprentices, 1 pedlar, 1 merchant, 3 military (including the Watch Commander) and a magistrate's bodyguard.
3. More interesting (as things progress) are two Petznak nobles and a surveyor and a bastard son of Bossan (the province's leader).
4. The crossbow bolts used to kill many of the people were smaller than normal quarrels, but larger than those for a pistol. They were also treated with an odd poison, something fungi based.
5. Firing came from a disused inn called "The Grassy Knoll". You found a short bolt there, but nothing else.
6. A second source was a disused warehouse (once used as a printing works and book depository), where 6 dead Hill Men were found with crossbows.
7. Eventually, you realised that they were not actually Hill Men. The crossbows were also ordinary and could not shoot the shorter bolts.

Both economic sabotage and the Petznaks seemed possible causes for the attacks, and inter-racial strife appeared to be one plausible intended outcome but you moved deeper into the backgrounds of certain individuals. Your conclusions are that the intended target was Lars Kopieshakov, a surveyor and boatbuilder, and Sergei Bossan. Lars had some peculiar notions upon the recent attacks on the Lake, which Bossan had been listening to. The Council thought him mad. He maintained that all the attacks on the rivers had been close to underground channels and that these were being used to travel to targets. Since they are often very small and un-navigable by boats this was not deemed possible. He also believed that Sisimithrae was a base for these attacks, since it had easy access to the Lake. Again, the lack of provisioning possibilities to the deserted town renders this unlikely. The inference was that the attacks were being organised by a mysterious third party. Since Lars was an Imperial Kislevan appointment, he was perceived as attempting to excuse his own people's attempts to centralise the Colonies. Tsarist intrigue was much the more likely solution. Lars' notes had been stolen, but Bossan had kept notes of his dealings with Lars.

Alexei Quist is among the dead, but was stabbed. You suspect that this was linked to the job that he hired you for but could get no leads. As things transpire, you learn that the hoard and the diviner have now disappeared - some investigation learns very little except a number of suspicions, mostly at the second son. Unfortunately, Georgi Mikhail Claesovitch was appointed as the new Captain of the Watch. You began to have your suspicions that he might have been involved in the deception in some way since he seems to have 'lost' a horse at the same time that Vasilii Vasilievitch Gyudvich obtained one to fly south (that you discovered from scouting villages to the south).

Moving on, you have gained employment Vladimir Federovitch Trepov at 10/- per day each and a 15GC bonus on completion. You are to escort a Petznak princess, Zixalla, to Torjkha, the capital of Galich and direct into the care of Prince Erdelyí the ruler of that principality. The dead Petznak nobles had come to retrieve her, and now only one remains (Rozes). You are to travel within a large caravan being run by Theo Aaftink, a man that Trepov tells you is trustworthy once bought (and he has been). We will go into the briefing when we restart.

Experience
Jakob  30
Wolf  30
Whys Parr  30
Kara  30
Morgan  30
Thomas  30