The Forges of Nuln

Travelling from a ruined Sigmarite monastery to the industrial heart of the Empire, the adventurers follow the trail of the Chalice of Wrath, the final item that holds the daemon they seek to destroy.

Recovering from their adventures to destroy the second shard of the daemon Xathrodox the Red Flayer the heroes went their separate ways in the City of Altdorf, for a while. While Zefod, Gagon and Thrunbor attempted to steal armour from a blacksmith, but fell foul of a large guard dog, Stefan and Urdithane began researching the Chalice of Wrath, the final vessel for the Red Flayer.

After several days of work, they discovered a reference to a Sigmarite monastery to the north of Altdorf, St Abelard’s, where a chalice was mentioned in a parchment written by one of the resident priests. Stefan was invited to a high-class restaurant by Katarine Braun, a mysterious noble lady who offered to hire the heroes to safely escort her to Nuln for a grand celebration hosted by the Countess Emmanuelle. Stefan agreed, but before they could do so, the group traveled through the Great Forest to the monastery to try and find the chalice. They were ominously shadowed by dark figures and eventually found the monastery. It had been ruined in a chaos attack; corpses of monks and beastmen scattered everywhere.

Investigating the ruin, the adventurers found the hanging bodies of four priests in a tower and soon they attracted the attention of a group of beastmen, lurking in the monastery. A group of formidable Gors, led by a seven-foot monstrous beast prepared to attack. Elgarin, the elven mercenary hired by Urdithane to protect him, rushed in to attack the beasts, but soon realized her course of action may have been rash. The other heroes charged in, but discovered that their foes had them outmatched. They retreated to the tower, all except elven hunter, Ezio, who decided that fleeing into the woods would be more suitable. Whilst holding the doorway, Urdithane conjured a flaming blade and plunged it into one of the beastmen, while his companions rushed inside. The adventurers quickly set about defending the tower against their enemies. However, despite some diversion from Ezio, the beastmen smashed their way in. Anfalas and Gagon held the top of the stairs and Urdithane caused the beast leader to drop his mighty blade with a cantrip. Using this distraction, the heroes pushed the beast down the stairwell, on top of his followers, then attacked, slaying the chaos creatures. The few survivors ran into the forest, with Ezio’s arrows hastening their flight.

The heroes had defeated the Beastmen lurking in the ruins of the Abbey of St Abelard and set about searching for the Chalice of Wrath. Inside the main building, they found a hidden door within the altar. Descending into the darkness, they discovered a number of broken relics, but no sign of the Chalice. However, a sword of fine craftsmanship, by the look of it recently left, was uncovered. Finding no other clues, the heroic band returned to Altdorf. Elgarin was troubled by the feeling she was being watched, and glimpsed a strange man in robes watching her and her companions. Stefan reminded his colleagues that they had agreed to accompany the noblewoman, Katarine Braun, to Nuln aboard the luxurious riverboat, The Emperor Wilhelm. They made the rendezvous and set off along the River Reik towards Nuln.

Whilst engaging in fishing, drinking and card games, the heroes met several of their fellow passengers. These included an elven merchant Camareann Youngwood, who had in the past dealt with Urdithane’s father in the past, Reinholt Leitdorf, an emissary from the Imperial Palace, Mathias Alptruam, a bitter young man with a feud against the Leitdorf family and Talima Lankdorf, an entertainer looking for work in Nuln. The first day passed without incident, but as the adventurers sat down for dinner, warcries could be heard and arrows began flying through the windows. It was a horde of beastmen, firing from the riverbank, while more of their twisted kin clambered aboard. The heroes leapt into action. Zefod the Halfling began throwing cutlery at the attackers, while Gagon the dwarf leapt through the window out onto the deck to take the fight to the enemy. Urdithane the elf mage dashed around the deck hoping to catch the beasts from an unexpected direction. Anfalas, Elgarin and Stefan barricaded the door. Ezio leapt through the window after Gagon but stumbled and found himself sprawled on the deck. Thrunbor the dwarf also charged in with a mighty warcry.

The ship moved out of range of the archers and the heroes began to wear down the beastmen. Urdithane enchanted one beast to sleep and Thrunbor cut it down. Anfalas, Elgarin and Stefan each took on a beastman and bested them in combat while Ezio wrestled one of the creatures over the side then joined his companions in slaughtering the last beast. Zefod and Gagon were both badly injured in the battle but would recover. The Captain of the ship thanked the heroes for their bravery as the ship continued its journey.

The adventurers’ voyage down the River Reik was disturbed once more, a ruined carriage on the riverbank was the scene of a disturbing slaughter. It appeared that the passengers had been brutally killed by beastmen. Inside they found an invitation to the Countess Emmanuelle’s masked ball in Nuln which would mark the unveiling of a new cannon.

Some hours later, the body of Reinholt Leitdorf, the emissary from the Imperial Palace, was found brutally murdered in a cabin, his face torn off. The Captain asked the adventurers to investigate the crime and they found a human tooth embedded in the victim’s body. They began to interrogate the passengers especially Mathias Alptruam, who had been observed arguing with Leitdorf. They proved his innocence and concluded the real killer had escaped, at least for now…

The boat finally reached Nuln, the day before the famous Black Powder week was due to begin and found most of the taverns were full. Lady Katarine, whom they were escorting to the city, bade them farewell and paid them for their service. They did find space at the Reaver’s Return, a very down market establishment ridden with mould and lice, but at least off the street. The next day, they visited the Lady Elsbeth Becker, a friend of the Captain of the riverboat, who he had recommended as a source of information. Once they told her of their quest to track down the Chalice of Wrath, she offered to help in any way, offering them accommodation on her estate. She also recognized the sword Anfalas had found at the ruined monastery as one of a select few given by the Countess to captains of Nuln. Lady Becker offered to track down any further links between the sword and the last known resting place of the Chalice.

The adventurers heard rumours that the sewer watch had encountered an increasing number of mutants below Nuln and decide to investigate. Stefan was called to the Lady Katarine as she felt the city is becoming unsafe. Down in the sewers, the others encountered a patrol of sewer jacks, then a horde of gigantic rats. Stefan came to the aid of his companions. Continuing their search they met a mutant who fled into the darkness and led them to a large number of its fellows as well as the alluring form of a Slaaneshi Daemonette.

The adventurers were faced with a large mob of mutants and their daemonic ally but carefully used the narrow confines of the sewers to negate the numerical advantage of the enemy. All the heroes contributed to the battle, with sword, axe, bow and fireball! Although Anfalas and Elgarin were wounded they managed to vanquish the chaos followers and set their foul temple alight.

Heading back to the surface, they returned to Lady Becker’s estate to recuperate. However, Anfalas, Zefod, Elgarin, Gagon and Thrunbor decided they need more equipment for their quest and ‘liberate’ it from an armourer’s shop. While Gagon was caught up with a gang of drunken sailors and taken to the nearest watch-house, Thrunbor failed to notice his colleagues being scared off by the owner, who raised the alarm. Thrunbor found his way to ‘The Drunken Guardsman’ a tavern frequented by the watch and befriended a watchman, Aldric Kalterbach, while the others ended up in ‘The Blind Pig’ Inn. The next morning they found a number of wanted posters featuring their images and decided to lie low…

Meanwhile, Stefan, Urdithane and Ezio had discovered that a young noblewoman, Maglyn Erhard, who had disappeared in mysterious circumstances. The lure of reward prompted them to investigate further. They visited the Erhard house and discovered that the girl had been kidnapped, possibly killed and her lover murdered. The obvious suspect was Maglyn’s finace, Barnabas Liess, but he could provide an alibi, as he was in the arms of another woman. In another part of Nuln, Thrunbor managed to gain a job as a guard at the College of Engineering. The city was becoming dangerous as the poor districts rebelled against the Watch, trying to track down the source of a number of disappearances.

The next day the heroes were summoned by Elizabeth Becker, who had discovered information about the sword they had found at the ruined monastery. Similar swords, given out by the Countess to her officers going north to fight in the war, were forged by Grunbar, a dwarf smith. He was found to be making more of the swords and the Countess Emmanuelle, suitably annoyed, threw him in prison. Stefan went to visit the dwarf but he could not provide any further clues as to who the sword belonged to.

Three of the officers who had been gifted with the swords were in Nuln: Gerlach Baer, discharged for cowardice and lost in a drunken stupor, revealed he had sold his blade to someone. The party asked at the Temple of Sigmar for Semund Tolzen, another officer, but were rebuffed. The third officer was Rolf Vogt. Meanwhile, further disappearances had come to the heroes’ attention. Reuben Kuhn III, the son of the city’s Exchequer and Harmann Otzlowe, a merchant, had both vanished off the streets.

After a long day of trying to track down the missing folk, the heroes returned to Lady Becker’s estate, but found the gates locked. Climbing over the wall, Zefod, found a scene of devestation. The lady’s servents had been killed and mutilated whilst all that remained of the noble was her hands. A message in blood was scrawled on the wall, the mark of Khorne and the words ‘Sigmar Returns’.

Shocked by the hideous murder of Lady Elspeth Becker and her entire household, the heroes were questioned by the watch. Meanwhile, the rioting in Nuln was reaching new heights. After trudging the streets all night, they eventually found shelter in ‘The Rearing Hippogryff’ tavern.

Determined to find a connection between the sword from the monastery and the whereabouts of the Chalice of Wrath, the group set out to find Semund Tolzen, one of the officers gifted with such a sword by the Countess. He had renounced his military commission and had entered the temple of Sigmar. Although he was interested to hear of their mission, he showed them the sword he had received. The next port of call was Rolf Vogt, another officer with a ceremonial blade. He was dining at the Golden Hammer and Anfalas and Elgarin managed to talk with him. He assured them he still had his sword too.

There was an announcement that the deranged murderer who had been stalking the city had been caught and was due to be hung at dusk. A huge crowd, including the adventurers gathered to watch but Urdithane, overcome with grief for Lady Becker, decided to hasten the execution by throwing a fireball at the condemned man. This began a vicious riot and while Stefan, Ezio, Zefod and Urdithane tried to reach the safety of the guards, Elgarin and the dwarfs positively reveled in the carnage! The arrival of the Countess’s troops broke up the rabble, leaving the adventurers wondering if the murderer had really been caught…

Following the riot in the square, the adventurers returned to their lodgings to rest. The following morning, the day of the Countess’s masked ball, the weather had improved and the people of Nuln were enjoying the festivities; safe in the knowledge that the murderer had been caught and executed.

The heroes were not convinced however, especially when another body was discovered the unfortunate’s body was missing its ears. The trail however, ran cold. The party travelled to the palace that evening and mingled with the great and the good, including Wolfhart von Liebwitz, cousin to the Countess who was in charge of the new cannon project and Randolph Vogt, his predecessor who had been stripped of his position and was very bitter towards young von Liebwitz. Stefan also talked to Jonas Reiss, the head of the Sigmarite Church in Nuln, who had heard about his mission to destroy the Chalice of Wrath.

Thrunbor was ejected from the the palace after leering at the Countess but just before midnight, a scream rang out. Wolfhart had been murdered by a masked figure who had cut off his nose. Elgarin, Gagon and Anfalas pursued the killer across the palace rooftops. The elven scout caught up with his quarry and engaged him in a duel. The fight was broken off by a carriage which smashed Anfalas to the floor. Gagon attempted to jump onto the carriage but unfortunately hit the cobbles instead, as the carriage sped off into the night.

The next morning, the new cannon ‘The Magnus’ was unveiled to the people of Nuln. As the adventurers watched the engineers prepare to fire. Then, there was a collosal explosion - the cannon had been sabotaged! As if waiting for the signal, dozens of mutants accompanied by daemonettes of Slaanesh emerged from the sewers. The heroes charged into combat with one of the mutant bands, slaying them with blades, arrows and fireballs. The adventurers were aided by Gabrielle Marsner, the Amethyst wizard who had helped them in Altdorf and had travelled to the city to destroy the chalice of wrath.

Just as they were slaying the last of the chaos creatures, screams could be heard in the distance. A huge malformed creature constructed from the parts of the recently murder victims lurched towards them. The heroes charged in and despite sustaining multiple injuries, Gargon swung the fateful blow that toppled the abomination. The image of Xathrodox, the daemon the adventurers had been seeking to destroy for so long could be seen as the creature collapsed. Following the abomination’s trail of destruction the heroes found the ruins of the Reaver’s Return tavern. Inside was a mutated man, bearing a grotesque second head resembling Claus Liebnitz, the corrupted priest of Ulric the heroes had defeated in Middenheim. He held the Chalice of Wrath, the final vessel of Xathrodox. The confrontation was interrupted by the appearance of Katarine Braun, the noblewoman who the party had escorted to the city. She was in fact a rival chaos cultist and wanted the chalice for herself. A three-way battle ensued but eventually Braun was bought down by Ezio and the Liebnitz creature was killed by Urdithane’s magic. Beneath the inn, they discovered the body of Rolf Vogt, the soldier who had bought the chalice to Nuln from the ruined monastery. The chaotic item has warped his mind and caused him to murder, creating the foul construct that had rampaged through the city.

With the chalice finally in their hands, and Gabrielle on hand to destroy it, the heroes could rest easily as the terror of Xathrodox had been ended. But what new adventures awaited them?