Travel Time
After leaving the Red Abbey, we got back to our carriage. Some
of the seats had been cut and damaged, and etched in the driver seat was “Buford
was here”. Buford was the name of Max’s little cousin who was a brat then and
is a brat now. However, it was also proof that Max’s dream did have a ring of
truth, his family was around. Annoyingly, Belle’s trunks had been opened and
tossed, so her dresses were in the swamp and ruined, much to her annoyance. We
got the Vanderheit up and running, then went to the town a day and a half ride
from Belle’s village. While we were there, we got Wilhelm healed of his head
wound, Max bought beast plate armor, and Belle got a few more dresses. She also
got nicely decorated leather armor and filled the carriage with dry food for
the village. At the last minute she also got two healing draughts, one of which
was for George’s sick pregnant wife.
The Healer and
George
In a storm, we arrived in the village. The villagers
appeared traumatized by something that happened before our arrival. Soon, we
learned that George’s wife and child were dead. He’d buried them behind his
house in simple graves. Unfortunately, the healer, Marta had disappeared a week
earlier while she was gathering mushrooms. Her husband said he thought that it
might be wolves, because they had been prowling in the village. We wanted to
know what direction or area Marta was in when she disappeared, but she kept the
location secret from everyone. In an effort to locate her, the group rode out
but due to the rain and time passing, we found no tracks or sign of her. Getting
back, Belle arranged for the villagers to unload the extra food she brought,
enough provisions for the entire village for the winter.
Night in the
Village
When night fell, Marta’s husband offered his house to Belle,
but she wanted to spend the night in the coach by herself to think about all
that happened. Because Wilhelm was still injured, she commanded the guys to
bunk with Marta’s husband. They did, and he told them what happened to George’s
wife. While she was delivering, the baby died inside her then turned because
everything in that area comes back to life. It clawed its way out of its
mother, killing her, and then she came back. Both had to be killed. Marta
disappeared shortly after that. Then the guys got to talking, and Bartleby
revealed his age, 55, which the husband thought was impossibly old. When
Bartleby responded that both his father and grandfather lived to be 60 and the
husband said he came from a family of necromancers. This enraged Bartleby who
attacked, making Max toss him out of the warm little hut and out into the rain.
Stomping back to the Vanderheit, he discovered that Belle was gone along with
the vampire hunting kit. Grabbing improvised weapons, the guys rode out after
her.
Belle’s Folly
After the guys bunked down for the night in the hut, Belle
saddled up her horse, grabbed the vampire hunting kit, and left. Riding to the
house, she entered without knocking. Werner was at the top of the stairs,
feverish looking. Belle told him that the others were likely behind her, she
had only moments. She wanted to know how often he needed to feed, or if he
always needed to kill his victims. Could he only take a little at a time? Then
she wanted to know if he ate Marta. He said he did, because he was hungry, so
hungry. He attacked, so Belle smashed the holy water she had in her hand on the
side of his head then grabbed the wooden stake she had in her skirt. He used
charm to make her drop it, but she recovered long enough to grab her pistol. He
grabbed her, smashing the vial of holy water she had hidden in her bodice, which
burned his chest. However, she couldn’t get free long enough to fire the gun
into him, so she fired it up into the ceiling to warn the others. Werner bit
into her neck, draining her of most of her blood. She slipped into feverish unconsciousness,
and he carried her upstairs.
Charge!!
When Max, Wilhelm and Bartleby arrived, they found Belle’s
horse tied up out front. Max jumped off Schmetterling and charged the front door,
as wolves began to howl. Bartleby and Wilhelm gathered up the horses to take
them to the stable, but a large wolf with red eyes got in his path. Meanwhile,
Max kicked down the door. He heard moaning upstairs and charged up the stairs,
even while he noted the Von Krieg great sword was missing. While Wilhelm and
Bartleby tried to get the horses inside, the wolves attacked. Schmetterling was
killed, but the other horses and riders made it in. Wilhelm jumped down to bar
the door, using chairs he found while Bartleby rode his horse up the stairs.
What he found was Max locked in bloody combat with Werner, with Belle bloody
and tied up on the bed. Von Krieg shouted for Wilhelm to face him. Max took
many injuries from Werner who had the enhanced strength of a supernatural creature.
Max was able to used the Warhammer blessed by the monks at the Red Abbey to do
some major damage to Werner. Bartleby fired an arrow into the creature’s foot,
pinning him to the ground. Wilhelm finally charged into the fight, just as
Werner was felled by Max’s hammer. Wilhelm picked up the Von Krieg great sword
and cut Werner’s head off. He turned to dust. Untying Belle, the group
discovered it was not apparent whether she would live or die. They gave her a
healing draught, the one she had given Wilhelm, but it did nothing because it
had been mixed up with one of Grodie’s random potions. Wrapping her wounds, Max
started a fire in the fireplace. They dragged a small mattress into the room so
they could take turns watching Belle and watching for danger, but still rest as
needed. They explored a little that night, and discovered a cellar with three
bodies. One was Marta, another was a young man, and the third was too badly
decomposed to tell what it was. They also discovered many papers about the Von
Kriegs including ties to the Red Abbey, a suit of full plate armor bearing the Von
Krieg crest, and treasure, such as jewelry and real silverware. They also found
the plans for the Vanderheit Mark II, which Belle gifted to Bartleby.
Rebuilding and
Leaving
The next day, Wilhelm rode into the village to tell everyone
that the vampire threat had ended. They didn’t really believe him or get
excited, but Belle did wake the next day. Slowly, she recovered her strength,
and gifted each of the guys with a fine necklace each, so they would have a
bonus for helping her defeat the vampire, and live after his savage attack.
Once she was recovered, she moved George and his family to the manor to help
her clean it, and gave all the children tasks. Wilhelm, Max and Bartleby all
took part in helping rebuild the village, including starting the foundations
for a home of their own. After a month, Max left the group to become an
initiate of Sigmar in the heart of the empire. Wilhelm and Bartleby set off for
the Red Abbey to gain the next clue in eradicating the Von Krieg menace and
clearing their name, while Belle set into the hard task of rebuilding the
village into a place worthy of renown.
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