Summary 54
You left the caves, heading for Kars. The weather turned even uglier, but then settled down after the first day. The journey took a total of four days. You saw a number of Hill Men parties heading south, mostly bedraggled and clearly retreating in haste. In one case, they dumped a badly wounded man who was slowing them down, and Lukas insisted on taking him with you. He wore an armband from the WEM Tin Co. There were signs of a sizeable force having also 'tactically withdrawn' leaving bits of equipment scattered along their route.You also saw beastmen and engaged in two fights - although your colleagues made it clear that (Becks excepted) they thought you a bunch of lightweights. You made it to the base of Kars and sneaked past a few campfires, apparently the sum total of the siege, without trouble. At the base of the 600' rock, you saw a pile of skulls with a large totem set inside it and a stitched hide 'poster'. As Jakob wryly commentated, it contained a highly unoriginal message, the upshot being that they were going to kill you all. You fled to Kars.
Kars is an oversized town with a massive squat and flat cyclopean wall around it. A single path winds around the mountain-(hill-)side monitored by strongpoints and covered by rockfalls etc. You arrived safely and the man you rescued was actually saved. Buildings vary considerably in their size aspect inside. Prince Hayek received you with bad news; the Tsarinova was not here. The interview was concluded by an attack on the city, beaten back with ease. Worrying ease!
Becks discovered that the Tsarinovna was indeed in town, and started a rumour to the opposite that appeared to have the defenders in a panic. Katerina appeared and placated everyone. You then met Hayek and Katerina, who declined the Veche's offer. What to do next? You were given quarters and settled down for the night. Becks returning home from an evening's drinking spotted a host of large foul flying creatures descending on the town, and called the alarm. Mayhem ensued, as a host of crack paratroops and flying troops landed and headed directly for your tower. Becks and Lukas tried to hold the main door with some Kislevan soldiers, but were ordered 'down below' to guard a specific room with their lives. They left. Everyone else had headed to the roof, and met some elite flying beastmen. Determined to fight them, the party got well and truly beaten up, Khedrun simply refusing to back off. You all eventually ran away. It took rather a long time, and fate points, before players remembered that not every fight can necessarily be won.
Becks and Lukas and four soldiers barricaded themselves in, then ran away through a mysteriously open door. They kept running, barring each door they could behind them. They passed a room with a weird mechanism, but kept running. Eventually, they found themselves chased by a lone enemy down into the depths of the rock upon which Kars is built. The four soldiers were picked off one after the other, and Kara and Lukas turned to face an elf who attacked them. After a dramatic fight, in which both characters were seriously mauled and Lukas turned down an offer to change sides, they slew the elf. Lukas found a pendent around his neck which he decided to wear, whilst Becks was intrigued by a pair of spectacles worn by the elf. Becks removed the elf's head and took the cleaver he had been using and which was scrawled with glyphs. She was then very surprised when appearing out from the depths with a chaotic hatchet in one hand and a head in the other, she was treated very suspiciously! The garrison had succeeded in fighting their way through to the 'mechanism room', in part with the help of a number of hand-held cannon to blast the way through, but it had obviously been a bloody fight. The tower was left under the guard of Hayek's personal retinue and some professional soldiers. Whilst you recognise that this all means something, you are less than clear what.
Everyone was taken to the various medical services to seek treatment.
Bob has a promissory note for 375 Imperial Kislevan Marks, to be paid in Paltora. (This includes housekeeping deductions for the sessions).
We need to check the insanity situation, given the criticals and FPs used up in this session.
There are a number of social level modifiers that need to be worked out:
(All cumulative)
Experience
Jakob 30
Wolf 30
Thomas 70
Rebekah 110
Khadrum 100
Lukas 120
"Bob" ---