(Being a series of quick game notes trying to account for the events of many sessions of playing through The Enemy Within using the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 1e rules.)

Session 64

Something Rotten in Kislev

• Gottlieb [Witch Hunter] – I 63
• Larry [Mercenary Captain] – I 58
• Othmar [Assassin] – I 56
• Nate [Witch Hunter] – I 64
• Wilfried [Templar] – I 53
• Karl [Artillerist] – I 45

While the rest of the party was within the citadel with Gurthgano Gorthaudh / Annandil, Karl has bought up a pair of bison from young Dolgan herders and has been otherwise spending his time drinking and gambling among the younger nomads.

As the party readies to depart from Chernozavtra, Karl finally delivers the letter from Habblo to the Dolgans and then departs with his two bison. He trades one to the hobgoblins for the free crossing of himself and his companions…

Who come riding out of the keep on the backs of five animated skeleton horses!

Figuring that the party has allied with the hated necromancer within, the Dolgans immediately attempt to give chase, but a massive magical storm summoned by Annandil clears the way from the keep to the ford. While the main hobgoblin forces are caught surprised, the mounted party rushes past and are pursued by a few hundred wolf-mounted goblin archers. Poor luck and worse riding skills see them assailed by arrows that mostly bounce of their armour (except for a very unfortunate critical strike to Larry’s genitals), but that eventually disable all their mounts. Those better skilled in rural operations slip off into the bushes and woods as the wolf riders stream past. When Karl returns to the field of battle on “Bison Logos”, he runs into Nathandar and Gottlieb searching the battlefield and finally finding the bloody and unconscious bodies of Larry and Wilfried under a massive pile of dead wolves. Even critically injured, Larry managed to take down an untold number of wolves and goblins before falling beneath their numbers.

The return to Kislev is much slower than the journey to Chernozavtra – with Larry carried by travois behind Bison Logos as they recrossed the Wheatlands, through Belyevorota Pass, and down past Praag to Kislev.

Bogdanov seems quite snappy that they didn’t return with Gurthgano Gorthaudh. While they were never directly instructed to do so, it was assumed that telling Gurthgano about Sulring Durgul would be enough to get him out of Chernozavtra and ready to end the necromancy in the rebel city of Bolgasgrad.

When their report is finished, he brushes aside the issues between Dolgans and greenskins as a general benefit to the Tsar and indicates that without Gurthgano’s aid, the party will have to deal with the problems in Bolgasgrad themselves.

The city is in rebellion. It has raised its own militia to fight off the encroaching forces of chaos, but this militia is primarily made up of the undead, and the Prince of Bolgasgrad has exiled the traditional churches and temples of the city which have all been replaced by the mysterious Cult of the Ancient Allies.

When the Tsar’s embassies to the Prince demanded that he put an end to this business, deliver the necromancer for trial, and reaffirm his oath of allegiance, they were politely but firmly refused and thus Bolgasgrad is now in open revolt.

The primary spy of the Tsar’s court in Bolgasgrad stopped reporting back three months ago. Earlier reports indicated that the necromancer responsible for Bolgasgrad’s workforce and militia was one Sulring Durgul and that indeed zombies walk the streets. He hinted at some connection with the Temple of the Ancient Allies before going silent.

The party is tasked with discovering what happened to this agent, one Julius Mikhailovitch Olvaga. They are given a passphrase to contact him – “Goblins in Kanen Pass and the wagons are stuck.” If he is lost, they are to replace him – observe, report, and take what action they can in his place. If they can deal with Durgul themselves all the better, otherwise to do what they can to stop him or delay his plans… and at the very least discover his strengths and weaknesses.

He then offers them the Black Dagger, acquired from the reliquaries of the Temple of Verena. It is an honest-to-goodness rune weapon – a dagger of pure black with a glowing rune on the blade near the hilt. It is of dwarven make and is probably several thousand years old. The rune is a lesser death rune against elves – perfect if they manage to get close to Sulring Durgul.

But the blade bears a dark curse. The first night that Nathandar has it, he feels disconnected from Morr, and he dreams of a black raven flies down from stormy skies and snatches the blade away from him. Something dark and murderous about the blade seems bound to the jealous brother, Khaine, the god of Murder.

Going immediately to the temple of Morr, he leaves the dagger in Gottlieb’s care and engages in an overnight vigil with most of the group and the high priest of the temple, Grigoriy Smertovitch Moryevitch and is given the name of Nathandar Moryevitch. At the end of the nightlong vigil, his connection is restored to Morr… but perhaps even more interestingly Karl fell asleep mid vigil and was blessed by a dream of Morr directly – a reminder that Morr is not just the god of death, but also the god of dreams.