A Return to the Herbalist’s Shop
The company reconvenes at the
King’s Arms where they share a meal and notes. At some point during their
discussion, Henri the innkeeper comes in with the pilgrims. He tells the
company that several groups of people, having seen the plume of smoke in the
northern forest, have quickly left the city to find its source. He suspects
that these people might be the treasure hunters everyone is so bothered about.
The company thanks him for this information and then returns to business. They decide that Maurice’s description of the herbalist’s shop is suspicious enough that they ought to investigate further. After some discussion, they decide to surround the place before sending in Renee and Andre to asks questions. If things go badly, the rest of the company will charge in and provide backup.
About an hour later, with their companions in position, Renee and Andre enter the shop. They soon attract the attention of Helene, the shop owner, who approaches them and asks them what they need. When Renee says that she needs “a certain map,” Helene politely tells her that she is in the business of selling herbs and poultices, not maps.
At this point, Andre steps forward and thrusts his copy of the treasure map into Helene’s face.
“Ah. You mean that map.”
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| This encounter was completely unplanned, but I was able to quickly grab this map! |
Helene moves to close and lock the door to the herbalist’s shop, an action that is taken as a threat by the members of the company. Garnier and Magnus force their way into the shop to confront Helene, who screams. Sabina, Jim, and Jules, who are positioned by a back window, hear this altercation and vault through the window. Frieda, who is with them, stays behind to keep watch.
Sabina and the two squires surprise two individuals in the back room of the shop—a man that neither have seen before, and the injured woman that Maurice spotted. Both individuals move to react, but are halted when Sabina produces both of her pistols. When Sabina motions them to move to the front room, they are only too happy to agree.
As the injured woman steps into the main room of the shop, those present can see that the tattoo on her left shoulder is, quite obviously, a Chaos symbol. Andre, seeing the woman, also notices that she bears identical injuries to the masked individual that attacked Renee their first night in Colmar (who Sabina has taken to calling, “the shitter shiver”).
A brief interrogation of Helene follows, with the company getting only very vague questions to their answers. As they press Helene to give them the name of her boss, she clutches at her throat and starts to collapse. Garnier, suspecting that some unseen, third party, has attempted to silence Helene with Chaos magic or poison, steps forward to render aid…
…only to have Helene recover abruptly and stab him with a poison-tipped needle.
The needle is tipped with Heartkill, and Garnier gasps and turns bright red as his pulse spikes to dangerous levels. Magnus drags Garnier out of the shop to bring him over to Pierre and Maurice, who are standing a safe distance outside. He quickly discovers what Maurice and Pierre already know—that Helene’s screams have attracted several well-meaning members of Colmar’s town guard, who are even now trying to surround the building.
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| The Masked Assassin's Tattoo |
Inside, Andre picks up the poisoned needle that Helene had dropped and tries to stab her with it. In response, Helene produces another poisoned needle and tries to stab him with it. While the two of them duel, the masked assassin throws a small packet at the floor, which explodes and covers the interior of the shop in thick smoke.
The man from the backroom races across the shop to a nearby window. He does not reach the sill before he is gunned down by Sabina.
The assassin, for her part, vaults easily out of the window on the nearer side of the shop and races for the crowd and freedom. Unfortunately for her, Maurice is able to shoot her with an arrow he had previously coated in manticore venom. In her weakened state, the assassin is no match for the poison, which effectively makes her fall asleep—to death.
Sir Henri manages to stun Helene with a well-placed blow of his mace. She collapses and is swiftly netted by Renee. Moments later, the guards push their way into the building and, finding the battle over, try to take command of the scene and bark orders.
The members of the company that do not slip away into the now darkening spring evening quickly search the shop. They find a small Altdorf printing press and the stack of fresh maps that it was used to make. They also find a crumpled letter on Helene’s body, which is as follows:
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| I also very quickly wrote this note while the PCs were fighting. |
H,
The mission goes apace. Rendezvoused with the servants of Kweethul. Some friction, but otherwise all is well. Their reinforcements are welcome, but detestable. We need to increase our own numbers, both to ensure that we have sufficient numbers to march against T, and also to ensure that our glorious powers are not overshadowed by Kweethul’s shamans. Redouble your efforts.
Z
Back at the King’s Arms, Frieda studies her old notes and reports that Kweethul is another name for the Horned Rat, the Chaos God of the Skaven.
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