Heart of the Empire

Dead Bodies Everywhere

Fritz and Falken confront Artur about his doppelganger and the papers.
Roadwardens soon arrive on the scene.
Help the officials to deal with the carnage on the forest road, burning the mutants before being escorted to they next Inn with a wagonload of the dead.
Arrive at the Seven Spokes Inn as a noble slays a peasant, and then buys off the roadwardens to deal with the corpse
Have statements taken by the roadwardens
Be healed by the dark-skinned Doctor (sister of the Roadwarden Sergeant)
Secure complementary passage to Altdorf (courtesy of Sergeant) for heroic services rendered before retiring for the night

Travel across the Altdorf Flatlands, through the northern Wolf Gate and land late in King’s Square
Feel the hustle, bustle and chaos of the capital – a fervoured pace that is beyond anything most of the party know, and even more intense than native ‘dorfer
Behold the Emperor – get caught up in the Imperial procession, feel the crush of the crowd, and watch the peasants get brutally stricken down by guards as they try and press forward
Nearly get robbed in the crowd, but also find a friendly face in Josef Quartjin – a river trader who occasionally makes it to Delberz and is familiar to Siggy and Fritz

Be led by Josef down the Street of a Hundred Taverns to the Boatman Inn, where he meets Professor Stefan Schubert and a student seeking passage to Bogenhafen
Drink merrily with Josef
Falken and Fritz are on the verge of drunk
Artur and Siggy are holding their bottle

Learn that Josef is traveling to the Schaffenfest in Bogenhafen with a wine shipment from Delberz, and is seeking boathands
Be offered a job as Boat-hands, helping Josef on the way.
Pay is 2s/day, board and tolls included.
One-time 0XP entry into the Boathand career.

Spend time with the Professor, who reveals the secret of the bloody papers – that they are an invitation to collect a significant inheritance, along with affidavit proving identity.
Artur insists on holding on to the papers, despite the Professor’s suggestion that he can look after them and arrange their return.
Artur intuits the Professor may have a different motive

Drunk nobles arrive as the Professor leaves, clearly ‘slumming’ it and looking for trouble.
They appear to be backed up by a tough guy in black leathers who looks like he’s out for some violent action.
They goad the party for a rise, Josef recommends they ignore them.
Fritz decides to stand up to their bullying, issuing a stern (corrupting) putdown to the Man in Black.
Artur pipes up to join in the dressing down, but is less than convincing, giving the Man in Black the minor excuse he needed to lash out and defend his ‘honour’.
The Man in Black whips out his sword and slashes Artur’s left arm, who passes out at the sting (PM has to leave at this point)

Brawl ensues, to the delight of the cackling nobles
The Man in Black dodges knuckleduster punches from Fritz, but ducks straight into Falken’s path
Falken takes a hefty winding blow to the chest in retaliation
Fritz jabs wildly and fumbled
The party seem to have been bested
The Man in Black utters some mild humilations at his opponents
He spits on Artur’s slumped body as he steps out of the Boatman Inn
The howling nobles and their entourage follow swiftly

Other dockland drinkers rally round
They praise the party for standing up to the bully, plying them with drinks to nurse their bruised wounds and egos
The alcohol goes to Fritz’ head, but Falken finds renewed courage from it
The party leave the Inn and head to Josef’s boat to get some rest and recovery.
On the way to the docks, they hear footsteps behind …