Threats from within

In the wake of the battle, Hargendorf is slowly cleared of rubble, bodies are burned or buried and the wounded are tended to. 

We leave the drudgery to others, and after a quick breakfast head towards Niske's tent to discuss our next move. It seems clear to us that we need to move ahead without the army. There is no way for us to arrive in time for Salzenburg if we wait for them. But - what are we to do? There is no way for us to join the battle and help defend the city, given our status as Nordland's most wanted. Toppling the elector-count and the dowager queen just before a decisive battle seems like folly as well. 

Upon my urging, we will simply sneak inside the walls of Salzenmund and gather more info before deciding upon a course of action. We should not act on outdated information - there is no way for us to divine what to do from Hargendorf. However, we should be prepared to do what is necessary to save the city and Nordland itself, up to and including asking Middenheim for help. 

Unsurprisingly, Niske agrees to the latter (having close ties - at best - to Todbringer himself). He gives us the names of three of the nobles on the city council whom he knows would support such a course of action. The key figure we'd need to turn is the mayor, whom von Gosser himself helped install. 

With the framework of a plan laid to our (my?) satisfaction, we set out on the road again. I'm beginning to think I will never see a goose down duvet in a good bed ever again, but at least it's preferable to the sewers. 

Salzenmund re-re-visited

The city itself seems fairly unaffected by the coming storm so far. There's a steady stream of refugees exiting through the south gates, and guards are questioning and turning away the few who try to enter. As always in these circumstances, a shanty town of sorts has sprung up outside of the city - the perfect place to learn some gossip. This is what we learn: 

• There has been a great battle at Stavern, where the Nordland forces dealt a serious blow to the Norscans. Not the least through the help of one familiar "witch hunter" - the lady Hierkeit herself. The Nordlanders retreated, but in good order, and are on their way to Kurtwallen. The plan is apparently to make a stand there, led by von Gosser himself and lady Hierkeit, "who fought like a demon" at Stavern. No truer words have been spoken..
• The baronesse von Kalb is missing - one of the three we need on our side. 
• The number of people in the city has swelled to double the usual numbers, and martial law has been instituted. Fearing that the ever dwindling food stores will run out, refugees from the North are chased out of the city. Norscans are imprisoned, outright killed or chased out. 
• Martial law is overseen by von Gosser's personal regiment and the dowager queen, in his absence. 

We effortlessly bribe our way in to get better info before making a plan. I see Eldur smoldering when he spots the von Gosser troops, small flames barely visible in his palms, a slight sheen of sweat on his forehead. His power has grown immensely in the last few months, which comes at a cost - it is nearly impossible to hide his witchcraft now. Luckily, my disguise skills have grown in equal measure. Fooling these simple soldiers is no problem for us. 

Once inside, we thread our way through the crowds towards Johan's old stomping grounds. Luckily, he's still the boss it seems. He's got quite the imposing presence by himself - adding Eldur, Viktor and Johanna probably helps a bit too. 

As expected, the dowager queen is in charge of the war council who's currently running the city under martial law. So far, she's refused any plans to ask for aid from the Emperor or Middenheim. The trouble is from our perspective - right now, that makes sense. The Norscans aren't on the backfoot, but from the sounds of it von Gosser isn't as big of a strategical idiot as we thought he was. And he's got the thrice damned vampire to help him as well. 

The next morning, our breakfast is interrupted by cheers from outside. Peering out the window, who do we see? Our dear, old friend the lady-absolutely-bonkers Hierkeit - more or less hand in hand with von Gosser. I hear a sharp intake of breath from Johanna besides me. The vampire is wearing the badge of witch hunter general! So much for that alliance...

Desperate for more info, I reach out to my network and score gold from my spy at the palace. She says that the dowager queen and Uri have been spotted several times going down into the catacombs from her room. The arrogance of the powerful might still be her downfall - why bother hiding her comings and goings from lowly servants? 

This seems as good a lead as any we got so far. We'd be able to take out the dowager queen and Uri, whom we assume are at or near the head of the cult. There'd be some trouble from their disappearance, sure, but with von Gosser himself in the city we think the defense of the city is well in hand. And we know of two entrances to the catacomb ourselves. What can go wrong? 

Into the catacombs

We try the entrance in the shadier parts of town first. Much to our surprise, it's no longer in an abandoned area. Refugees have set up camp right smack in the front of the entrance! We try our luck with the entrance in the nobles' quarters. As expected, there are guards. I do my best "haughty noble with a thorn in her side" [i.e. every noble ever] and bluff our way through them. But again we're foiled: Eldur senses that the door is warded. He can easily remove the ward, but he fears that whoever put it there would be warned. 

So again we turn my street urchins, who are growing up. Their leader Otto is now close to a man at the age of 12, his voice cracking and the faintest hint of a moustache lining his upper lip. I bite my tongue to hide my amusement as he's trying quite unsuccessfully to not look at my breasts, and ask him to do yet another job for me. They're to scout the entrance to the catacombs and report back whether they see anyone who are likely watching the entrance itself, playing the part of the refugee. In addition, they'll try to see if there's a way to get into the catacombs quietly. 

After a few hours, they report back that an old man and his 3 grandchildren have set up camp directly in front of the door. There are quite a few other people in the area as well, so we probably need a distraction. They didn't see any people acting like spotters. 

We decide on a pretty simple plan: take a bunch of food from Johan's gang, give it to the sisters operating near the entrance and have all the people flock to get food. Voila, plan works great and we sneak in behind the tent of granddad. Unfortunately, there's a ward on that door as well. We assume it won't be watched quite as closely as the other one, given the natural "protection" the refugees bring. Eldur dispels it easily, and we slip inside. 

A sister's pride

With an eerie sense of deja vu, we make our way into the temple where we first met the cult of Valkia. It's abandoned now, so we head further in, towards the place we faced the Bloodletter. Shallya's mercy, She must really have held her hand over us back then - we were so inexperienced, to face such a menace and survive! 

I sneak a glance at Eldur. The last few months have changed him dramatically. He's faced down his worst nightmare in the form of Malice, he's withstood Pallidus' corrupting influence and countless other threats, all the way growing in power to untold levels. I...must admit I've always seen myself as somehow...above him. Better. More complete. As if he's needed me to protect and guide him, and shield him from the world so he can play with his little magic tricks. 

Looking at him now, I realize this is no longer true - if it truly ever was. I've had so many nightmares where his soul was lost, eaten by Tzeentch as payment for true power. They're gone. He's grown into himself, powerful in spirit as well as in his magicks. I couldn't be prouder. 

Choking back tears, I give him a quick little hug and squeeze of his hand. He looks somewhat surprised at me - I just smile back, reassuring him as I've always done. At least I can still do that. 

The threat from within

Eventually, we find our way to the room where we found the three girls. From there, we move on more sneakily, with me and Torgil ahead of the others as usual. For some ridiculous reason he still insists he can see as well in the dark as me ("Elven sight!") and plows on ahead. I just shake my head behind him, but let him have his little victory. 

With his evidently elven ears, he's able to pick up voices before I do coming from the closed door ahead of us - not that I'd ever admit that. As we creep up together, we hear Norscan voices - and a lot of them. We circle around to another corridor, where we can see two chaos champions standing guard at a juncture, with clear Tzeentchian markings. Going back to the door, we hear another, raspy female voice rise and address the Norscans inside. She tells them to have patience, and that the day of their victory nears. Evidently, they plan to storm up to the north gate and open it from within as Wulfric's army approaches. With a small band of chaos champions, that actually sounds feasible - and would be devastating for the city. 

We sneak back to the others, and Eldur raises his head in alarm as we return. He says there's a swell of magical force in the room ahead. He feels fairly confident that there's a powerful champion of Tzeentch there. Then the fun begins. 

Most of the party wants to attack the champions, arguing that would deal a big blow to the enemies' plans. I disagree [usikker på om noen andre var uenige?], fearing that, while worthwile, it would put a giant target on our back and all but guarantee that we'd be hunted down. If I were the dowager queen, I'd feel fairly certain about who would be able to deal such a blow and stop at nothing to find us before the battle. 

Eventually, after what feels like an eternity, Viktor comes back into the room (I never noticed that he left), steps into the middle and waits for everyone to shut up with a weary look on his face. "You know guys...there's another corridor we haven't checked out yet?" As usual, me and Torgil are on the opposite side of the argument. For once, we silently agree that yes, we should absolutely check out the corridor that might invalidate our entire argument, and move on without another word. 

Into the castle

As it turns out, the corridor leads to a dead end - at first glance. With a bit of searching, we find a mechanism that seems like it might open a secret door. Eldur is tired of arguing over everything, pushes the brick which opens a door, enters - and disappears. What in the name of all that is unholy??!? We try pushing the little brick again, but nothing happens! After a while, a door suddenly appears - and Eldur's there, pushing a servant girl who looks totally out of it in front of him. 

Apparently, the secret door used magics to move the person entering the door through the brick wall. Nice trick! We question the poor servant girl, who is, understandably, afraid for her life. I manage to calm her down after some time, and she gives us the info we need in exchange for a promise that we'll try to spare her life. 

She confirms that the dowager queens enters the mausoleum, but will often use a secret door in her own room. After a quick discussion, we agree that we'll try to take her and Uri (if he's there) out right now. It probably won't affect the war effort too much now that von Gosser himself is here. The servant helps us plan the best route, and then we wait for night to fall. We tie up the servant girl, promising to free her on the way out. Of course, there's no guarantee we'll come back this way...but she doesn't need to know that. 

Once night is firmly upon us, we sneak in the same way Eldur did. Turns out it leads into a food storage in a small cellar, with stairs going up to the kitchen. As promised, the kitchen staff are sleeping in one end of the huge room. Torgil manages to calm down the guard dog with sweet whispers (the elven touch, of course - eye roll) and more importantly, lots of food. 

We make our way to servants' quarters, where we know there should be a door to the gardens. From there, we'd be able to go directly into the mausoleum from the outside. 

There's only one hitch - I need to stay behind. The chaperone left to guard the servants' quarters is easy enough to fool with the "helpless girl in distress" ploy. But I'll be damned if I can come up with a plan that allows me to leave him behind without sounding the alarm after a while! So, I convince to come to "my" room to chase out the BIG rat I swear I saw, while the others go into the gardens. 

The chaperone, Alfred, is a jovial enough type. I probably wouldn't kill him to join the others...and even if I wanted to, his bleeding body could easily be discovered before we reach the dowager queen. So I pace in my servants' quarters, briefly reminded of all those years ago back in Altdorf where I did the same. Only this time, my mind is not filled with dreams of riches and glory, but with fear and concern for my compatriots.