The wonders of Altdorf

Having emptied our personal coffers on the magical weapons, we decide it's time to leave Marienburg before we're utterly penniless.

We ride out of the city, and get fleeced a last time from the guy running the stables (I refuse to call him stablemaster - more like stableswindler), where we leave our horses. We secure passage with the riverwardens up to Altdorf. The journey is uneventful (Johanna manages to tactfully ignore the riverwardens' rather blatant corruption), and after 10 days we arrive in glorious Altdorf! 

Altdorf and a most merry night

If you ignore the smell that is. Hoooooooly Shallya, I had forgotten how bad it is when you sail into the city! It's not as bad when you get further in (partially because you get used to it), and we quickly make our way to my favorite inn in the city - The Fat Lady's Beard. A place known for merriment, good beds for both sleeping and funny business and a lot of info moving through it. The food's not half bad either. 

We've arrived pretty early in the day, and decide to have some fun before we get down to business. When me and brother dearest lived here, we weren't exactly swimming in crowns....and I passed the restaurant Boma many times, the smells and sounds teasing me all the way home. I swore that one day, one day me and Eldur (or well, at least I) would eat there without needing to pay with my body to some stinking noble afterwards. 

So today is the day! The others are easily convinced, and we have enough money in our communal coffers to pay for the meal 20 times over. We have the time of our lives, the food is amazing, the halflings adorable and the wine flowing freely. I suggest we try to recoup our losses at The Scoundrel, a famous gambling establishment for the well off. Torgil and Johann prefer the slummier parts of town of course, but the rest of decide to try our luck. 

I spot my mark soon enough, a noble in his late 40s. After the usual song and dance, I put the daggers in and win a pot worth 60 GC. At first he seems to take it well, but then he starts accusing me of cheating. I've seen the type before - they just can't handle losing to a WOMAN. Especially one they assume is just a dumb courtesan, barely worth their time (once outside of their beds). Next day I tell myself it's the alcohol, but for once I feel myself losing control of my emotions. I lean closer to him, smiling all the time while whispering "give me the pot, or my wizard brother will burn your family to a crisp before your eyes. And then, then I will enjoy sloooowly bleeding you out before I cut off your disgusting little prick and feed it to you!"

I'm used to toying with men and having them dance to my tune, but I'm not very good at intimidation. But it worked. His haughty smile disappeared in an instant. To his credit he kept his cool, and slid the money over to me while telling the security guard that it was just a misunderstanding. Heart pounding, I thanked him, gathered the rest (Johanna refused at first before I told her of a great place with cheap beer and cheap men) and ran out of there. 

Our spirits soaring, we ran through the streets, me and Eldur giggling like school children at robbing a noble. Johanna was getting deep in her cups again, but I didn't feel like babysitting. We went to the Merry Fiddler, had a grand old time, Johanna ended up with a young fellow she probably scared shitless while giving him the time of his life and we had a grand old time. Forgetting that we were responsible (of sorts) for losing the chalice, forgetting that our souls might be forfeit for consorting with the darkest of forces, forgetting all the innocents who will die when the dark master attacks Salzenmund. Forgetting is underestimated! 

The temple 

The next day, Johanna is in awful shape as expected. The rest of us are hardy and experienced enough to not drown entirely in our cups, so a hearty breakfast sets us right. 

Some light ground work reveals there are two Shallya temples in Altdorf. There's the one I used to visit when we lived here, the temple of Alessa's grace (Alessa was one of Sigmar's staunchest allies). But there's apparently also a second one, called the temple of salvation. This one apparently caters to the need of the mentally ill - from the nobility only. 

We decide to go to the main church first. Presenting our letter of introduction from the abbess in Salzenmund, we're shown in to the high priestess. Johanna introduces herself, which paves the way for cooperation even more. Apparently there are 30 rooms in the temple where the most sickly are kept. The high priestess offers to clear them out for us. After a few hours, we're let in - and find absolutely nothing, after a thorough search. 

Disappointed, we decide to split up. Eldur and Johanna will conduct research in the temple's library. The rest of us will try to our luck elsewhere. On the way out, the high priestess drops a bomb on us - she tells us the other temple is run by one Berga Hierkeit! Shallya save us...

Research is best done face to face

We start at the city hall, where I ask a red-faced (funny how that keeps happening) young assistant where we could find information on insane houses on Altdorf 200 years ago. He points us in the direction of one Ulrike Herschel, a professor of history. 

After a short walk, we knock on the door of the professor. She answers, and is more than happy to answer our inquiries. It turns out that there was another house for the insane back then - what is now known as Munden Keep. The professor tells us Gus [jeg noterte visst ikke hele navnet, whoops] was quite the celebrity back in the day. Apparently he was an engineer who built all sorts of crazy contraptions - even one which you could fly in the sky as a bird! After building a ton of famous things that I've never heard about, he apparently turned his mind to some mystery. This eventually drove him mad - he was given a room in Munden Keep, in one of the towers facing the river. 

Quite satisfied with myself, we return to the inn, eating, bathing and relaxing while we wait for Johann and Eldur to return empty-handed. 

I can't help but break out into a big, shit-eating grin when I tell Johanna that we've found where Gus was kept, and she responds with a "why do you ALWAYS....", before she lets out a laugh and gives me a hug. Johan has some interesting info on the keep as well. Apparently it is now a prison for the worst of the worst of the worst. That's not at all. It's basically a criminal enterprise, ran by the warden. Getting in might not be a problem. Getting out...

Munden Keep

To avoid disaster, it's decided that me and Torgil (the most sneaky of us) will stay behind, in case the rest need rescue. Pondering on this while we watch a boat carry them across the river to the keep, I wonder how we'll possibly help them if Johanna, Viktor, Eldur and Johan are actually captured there...that's gonna be some pretty stiff opposition. Oh well, we'll figure it out if it comes to that! 

Turns out, it didn't. Skipping the bribes and other details, they found the room and found the info we need! 

There were 3 drawings. One of a twisting spiral. The second showing a collection of buildings beneath a crescent moon, the sigil of Salzenmund. The third showing a weird looking star pointing at a spire. No points for guessing it's related to the keep of the celestial wizards and their orrery. 

There's also a bunch of cryptic (or not so cryptic) text: 

They watch the stars, but miss the truth beneath

Seek the gears, not the heavens

Something about a lock, whispers, silence (they weren't able to discern it right away, needs to be studied)

A door within the spiral

Hidden behind time's hand

No light finds it

But shadow casts the way

There is more, but Johanna and Eldur need more time to discern the meaning. 

To run or to fight

Meanwhile, we have a decision to make. Should we try to find out if this Hierkeit is a vampire, as we fear? Or should we focus on the larger mission and return to Salzenmund? 

We decide more info is always better, and return to the professor. Luckily, she knows of the Hierkeit family as well. Apparently they emigrated from the city of Llamia in the kingdom of Nekrakah (aka the birthplace of Nagash and origin of all vampires) pre-Sigmar. They eventually found their way to Altdorf some 3-400 years ago. Now though, there's only one Hierkeit left, the one running the Shallya asylum for the wealthy - the rest returned south some time ago. 

We decide to try the indirect approach. Johan hires some ne'er-do-wells to break into the asylum, promising riches a plenty. They take the job, and then...just disappear. Johan tries to find a trace of them, but they're just gone. Ok. Guess that's evidence enough. 

We decide that running away is the better part of valor, I mean, that the greater mission is more important. And so we return to Salzenmund. On the journey, Johanna and Eldur decipher the rest of the cryptic texts: 

Follow the seafarer's mark

There, the heavens hold their breath

The gears grind the lock

A name whispered opens the way

Yet silence can shatter it

Returning to Altdorf felt like escaping all the harrowing shit in the north. No Malice. No Dark Master. No Nurgle-be-cursed vampires-thinking-they're-fudging-witch-hunters. No responsibilities. 

My mood darkens as we near Salzenmund. I feel dark talons scratching at my soul again, looking for a way in. Everything can be justified in the name of greater good. What will we do with our lady Hierkeit? Will we accept her help in defeating the Dark Master? Do we have a choice? Regardless, I feel like my soul is forfeit. For once, I turn to Sigmar, clasping the tiny twin-tailed comet symbol, looking towards the heavens on the roiling Sea of Claws. He doesn't answer. I hear the whispers of a dark laugh on the wind and a large shadow seems to move beneath the waves just at the edge of my vision. Stromfelds heard me. I laugh a bitter laugh. Maybe my clan was right after all. You need power to defeat power. 

But no. Our lady Shallya will protect our souls. Or least she'll protect Salzenmund. I can live with that. I think...