15 August 2007

Splitting Heirs: Session Sixteen

More bullet-points as I'm in a rush to get this done before the workload builds up enough to stop me progressing with it at all...

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1) Helena was at pains to make the Templars feel welcome, offering them food and lodgings for the night, but excusing herself in the immediacy to avoid answering their questions. She did, however, make herself available after they had dined, and was asked probing questions about Baron, daughter and councillor alike. The night was uneventful, however when the Witch Hunters rose and attended breakfast, only two of the three were present; the third had slipped out of the castle during the night and vanished.

2) Shortly thereafter Jarla arrived back - not having seen the Templar on the road - with her gaggle of young women with "talent" for things like herbalism, midwifery or other less natural aptitudes, and a couple of male relatives as guards. Lady FitzCarstein was forced to explain their presence as Pilgrims and the need for the mundane talents in the castle as she prepared for a siege (cuing short talk of impending war and threat from the south).

3) The "lead" Templar made his excuses and left for Himmelfeuer with his servants, eschewing offers of guide or provisions and leaving the last of his number to canvas the north and west of the Barony for their mark - Josephine. This last, Brunner, did agree to look over Father Cantati's dossier on Vampiric movements in the Badlands, however, but remained far from convinced.

4) Meanwhile, on returning to Himmelfeuer, "Scharf" invited Pou, Herbert and Mannfred to a war council of sorts, at which he explained Gretel's turning and treachery. His explicit inclusion of Mannfred in the discussion led to some clarification on whose side Herbert's manservant actually was on, and Mannfred tipped his hand a little. He and Aachen were brothers, they had contacts all over the place and information streams to both north (the Empire) and south; he did not go as far as revealing for whom, if anyone, else he was working but assured everyone he was not an agent for Morder. Scharf told the gathering that Rolf was lost, presumed dead, and that other men would need to be sent southward to watch. Mannfred volunteered himself for the role, claiming he and Aachen would be more than capable. He also intimated that Duke Morder was probably waiting for some sort of trigger event before invading - his troops had been massing ready for a week or so without action. Mannfred's plan was to fire the southern forests as a signal as and when the enemy began to move with the dual effects of flushing out the bandits and skirmishers in the woods and filling the sky with smoke as a warning signal. Scharf and the others agreed, allowing them to keep their focus closer to home, and without risking more men.

5) After the meeting, Scharf took care of some mundane tasks and set off for Drachenmalstein to inform Helena of developments (amongst other things), spotting and avoiding Herr Ritter on his way out of town. Pou was not so fortunate and was just leaving the castle after overseeing afternoon training of the Kupfers when Ritter stopped him. The Templar was initially sceptical of Pou, seeing as the gunsmith never travelled anywhere without an overabundance of firearms, but it was in the resulting discussion of the weapons when Ritter drew his own pistol that Pou recognised the gun as one he had made. This warmed the atmosphere of the meeting a little until Ritter ran through a similar list of questions to those he had asked Lady FitzCarstein the night before - all aimed at finding out how the Barony ticked and if anyone knew where Josephine was to be found. Pou became a little evasive, and Ritter soon got bored, ordering Pou to meet him at his workshop at dawn the next day before summarily dismissing him and disappearing into the castle.

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Actually I don't think I missed too much here, lack of detail aside. It seems like not a lot happened from the above but it didn't feel slow or light to me at the time. Admittedly this was probably because the scenes with the Witch Hunters took a fair while, digging at possible splits and niggles and generally being a pain in the backside.

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