Dark Heresy

So over the Easter weekend I had cause to play the Warhammer 40k RPG, Dark Heresy. The short version: it's WFRP with bigger guns, to no-ones surprise.

The long version would recount a very enjoyable long weekend of which two days were given over to gaming, but I can't be arsed; so instead the version presented is Condensed Random Thoughts Provoked by Playing. Bear in mind that I don't own the book, nor have I read it through. What I have done is glanced at bits that were pertinent to the game as played, and participated in several hours of actual play.

• • WFRP with bigger guns - characters are similarly (in)competent, system works identically in play, etc. This is no bad thing; it immediately felt familiar and smooth, and of course similar themes abound, even if the tech level is ramped up.
  
• • Get up close and personal. Especially with a shotgun. Jeez... the +30 to hit and extra hit per 2 degrees success at point blank were responsible for some fine spray mess.
• • The career organization felt... whacky. For example Assassins need to be 3rd rank (1500+ XP) before they can learn to hide skillfully. WTF?
• • Not allowing the same half action to be repeated caused some consternation to stand-and-shoot types. And monkey dancing. In a fez. Yes, you read that right, and I'm only slightly making it up.
  
• • Psykers are interesting things to have around, not least for when they fuck up.
• • Two 100s in a row is one hell of a way to burn a Fate Point, and what a game to roll it in. Low damn you dice. Low!
• • Niche protection works, but my god if it didn't feel like the characters were one-trick ponies at low XP levels.
• • Defaulting a whole sessions worth of Tech Use roles as a low int Void Born made for some interest. The skill splits definitely increase the need for balanced groups given the penalty for defaulting, and the basic/advanced differential.
• • Jesus fuck why weren't tables etc done in a sensible order (alphabetised, maybe?)? It made finding things take far longer than it should and somewhat frustrating.
  

All in all it was a fun weekend, and everyone said they had enjoyed the game and would play again - though everyone agreed on some of the "slightly off" points above and felt some tweaking very much required in future.

I doubt I'll pick it up - if I were to run 40k inquisitors, I'd probably look first to a port of Dogs in the Vineyard - but I'm certainly glad to have played it and would do so again.

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Splitting Heirs: Afterthoughts

With a few sessions still to go Paul, who was playing Scharf/Rudi dropped me an email:

Quote:

Hey Graham, hope you're psyched for next session. I'd just been thinking about how much I'd been enjoying this campaign, probably because it has all the elements I appreciate as a player but rarely get. Then I thought, what did you plan to get out of it? I know you really wanted to run Warhammer, in this set-up - it was always your main idea in the suggestions you sent out. What were you looking forward to? Has it turned out as you wanted? What plans and scenes were you hoping to get out? Just wondering, is all.

To which I responded at the time, but I think it’s a good basis for summing up my feelings about how the game played out.

My primary objective in any game I run is to push for the type of game and play I find myself unable to get (whether through the style of GMing, me not actively pursuing it, or most commonly a combination of the two) when I am a player. That generally means I am shooting for intense, character-centred drama, pushing the protagonists into hard choices and situations which encourage growth and change in the characters, whilst maintaining a backdrop of interesting events. I also like resolution - whether it be total, final, or just a central issue. This game resolved the "how" of succession, assuming the barony survives, if not the war which would determines that survival, whilst we had individual resolutions for the characters, too: Rudi's secrets coming out, and his overcoming his fear of women to end up a husband-to-be having upheld the vows he made to himself and the Barony; Helena's mourning period ended and she has found love, as well as forged a place for herself of right, assuming, that is, the war can be won; Pou meanwhile was forced to live up to his position and take responsibility not just for himself but for all – he was forced into a position where he felt he had to act because it was the “right” thing to do, however much he did not want to take that step. He also married and started to assume more responsibility in his personal life in a mirror to his professional elevation.

By and large, then, the game has delivered what I set out to achieve, with a prime example being the wedding session (one of the reasons I wanted to end it there - nothing else could come close for me). Whilst the game did not progress exactly how I had envisaged when we began, it was not to its detriment. If I had been firmer with pacing, scene framing and such then I may have realised my initial (episodic) vision better, but we wouldn't have had a lot of the time and space, and the smaller events, that helped make the game work.

In some ways I had hoped that the players would pursue more individual agendas; resolvable conflicts between protagonists (read PCs) is something I have realised that I value highly in my gaming, and the set-up of the game was in part designed to encourage this. (That, and I much prefer characters with a degree of gravitas or authority; doing the ordering about is a lot more interesting and open to choice than being told what to do). Bits and pieces of this were seen, but perhaps not as much or as weighty as I would have liked. Perhaps the lack of system was detrimental here (I know I’d like to do similar sorts of conflicts with a solid systemic backing in the form of Mortal Coil or other similar system), but I guess in part a degree of backing down was to be expected: inter-PC conflict as an express element of games is at odds with the usual "party" mode of play and not necessarily to everyone’s tastes.

Beyond that... well, nothing was overly planned. I had initially hoped to have Mörder and his associated underlings appear more - indeed I had envisioned playing out the war - but I could not figure out how to fit them in without rushing into the war situation, and it became clear to me early on in execution that this game would suffer (in my handling, at least) if the war was expressly played out. The conflict with Mörder worked better as a constant threat and pressurizing factor in the end.

I might also have liked to centre more on the council meetings themselves but for two factors - Lady F's physical distance from things when in Drachenmalstein, and more pertinently the difficulties of playing several NPCs in the same scene. Aside from differentiating them convincingly there are issues with giving each screen-time, motivations and so forth, not to mention the ease of forgetting who was doing what with which agenda! The latter is much easier to keep in check if NPCs remain more discrete from each other.

I've thoroughly enjoyed it all told; the first few sessions were about bedding in to GMing again, and there were one or two where it dragged a bit here and there, but for the most part the energy was maintained and I have felt wholly rewarded by the actual play you the players created from the situations I threw at them.

It did feel a little cheap doing the final wrap up as I did, that is to say as a cutscene watched by the PCs, not something they had an active role in, however it was about the only way I could wrap on time – yes, I really, really need to work on my pacing! – and I felt (and I think they did too) that a passive plot resolution was better than none. I skimmed or omitted details in the summary above for ease of reporting, lack of memory and clarity etc., but I think it was generally well received – as indeed the game as a whole was.

I am, however, glad it has ended. As much as I enjoyed it, and as much as the players, characters and events kept me entertained I believe strongly that every game has a shelf-life, and for me this campaign reached it after the high of the wedding session. It had climaxed for me in terms of payoff, and once heights have been reached that will not be re-attained my motivation begins to fade. It became very much about shaping up for a convenient (yet appropriate) ending, and I think it worked out despite that. Although my accounts are more underwhelming since the wedding – a side effect, no doubt, of my desire to close down – the actual play kept its verve and edge until the last.

Enough was left open to allow a return in future but I don’t think the desire will be there. The campaign as it ended up was self-contained and resolved to a point where it doesn’t demand a return; pastures new give rise to different options, whilst a sequel always carries the risk of not living up to its progenitor.

Splitting Heirs: Session Eighteen – The Finale.

An additional reason for a short, points-based summary this time; as well as being behind, the meat of this final session was all to do with a single scene at the emergency council meeting called by Lady F, and short of transcribing it in its entirety (which I didn't do, nor could have done, at the time) there is nothing - prose or points - that will recount it accurately. Indeed, prose may lose the points of salience.

The first thing to say is that in the lead up to this session I was informed individually by Pou's player and Lady F's player about their plans for the meeting, one in broad strokes, the other in more detail. Whilst they had very similar end positions, their means to fulfil their agenda were very different. In these exchanges Lady F, after hearing about Pou having visited the Baron, wished to change her plans slightly to find Pou before the meeting began. I ruled against this on the grounds that it was tight fitting everything into the short (game) time between where we left off the previous week and where we picked up for this.

Lady FitzCarstein’s agenda was to call for unity – proffering apologies and/or terms where required in order to gain it – and set up a new power structure in the Barony, one that had more chance of lasting the forthcoming war and beyond, and tentative plans to help ensure the beyond mattered. She had Rudi/Scharf onside and planned, too, to propose formally to him after her plans had been laid out and (hopefully) accepted.

Pou gazumped her, however, bringing to the meeting armed Kupfers in place of the usual array of serving staff, and calling upon them to pressurise those attending. He felt pressured into his precipitous action by the amount of politicking, backbiting and in-fighting now regular amongst the councillors, and had been stoked up by Herbert’s backing. Unfortunately Pou was hurried into his move, and was not the most willing or forward thinking of leaders, making for the slightly ridiculous position of a man who had just seized power by force making arguments about how they should prove they could trust each other in order to guarantee their freedoms, their roles and the future of the Barony. Pou had seen the Baron earlier and either had tacit support for his plan, or the Baron had mistakenly thought it was longer in the planning and viewed the Kupfers whom had been placed legitimately around the castle for genuine defensive purposes as agents in a coup that already had him at a disadvantage, but his clear lack of planning and secretive execution of his move soon grated on the assembled. As Pou floundered, Herbert and Georg used the situation to push for some home truths under Pou’s stated aim of openness and honesty and they managed to force out into the open many of Helena and Rudi’s past discretions – banditry and murder (even if in self defence) amongst them. The fractious atmosphere – Pou had declared them prisoners until their allegiances and intentions could be proven or avowed – was made worse by Rudi refusing to take Pou seriously, which just flustered de Burns more. Eventually however, with the meeting progressing not at all, Helena was asked direct questions she saw fit to answer, and in doing so took back the floor, having clear plans where Pou had nothing in place.

Her re-structuring would, ironically, put Pou in the position he had found himself forced to take: as Palatine or Paladin, essentially running things in name of the Baron, with Herbert’s daughter Cornelia as his assistant or Seneschal. Herbert would retain his mayor-ship and would also be a trusted advisor to Pou, whose role would be non-hereditary and could be relinquished once a proper heir to the Baron was found. For her part, Helena said she would forego Drachenmalstein and return it to (in his eyes) its rightful owner: Georg. Instead she would, fate willing, take the Duchy which Mörder now held as her own; if not, she would be dead – for she fully intended to firstly defend against the inevitable assault from the south, her last act as Lady of Drachenmalstein, then beat it back, with the aid of her father and the Knights of the Raven – skilled warriors in the service of Morr who counted her father and brother Jurgen alike as members. Despite his irrelevance to proceedings – he was dead drunk and beyond caring – Helena even offered concessions to Brunnenhing, promising him aid in the setting up and maintenance of profitable trade roads through his lands. There was a murmur around the table, and even those who begrudged the source of the ideas and plans had to concede that it beat all other options open to them hands down. There just remained the need to swear oaths to that effect. Each in turn swore on something they held dear, until Pou was satisfied that the best possible outcome had been achieved. The meeting concluded shortly thereafter, with Rudi tendering his resignation now his future (with Helena) and his past (his not being Captain Reinhardt Scharf) were clear.

(At this point the real substance of the campaign concluded; all that remained was to tidy up some loose “plot” threads to bring the curtain down on the bigger picture)

As they broke up the meeting, Pou having long since motioned the Kupfers to stand down, news filtered through that the Templars had found Josephine, and were bringing her back to Himmelfeuer for the Trial the Baron had desired. As everyone gathered to meet them, a location was picked for the dispensing of Sigmar’s justice – a patch of open ground overlooked by the Baron’s private chambers where he was said to be very unwell. With the council in attendance Ritter, Jaeger and Brunner set about their process, questioning the girl in turn with heavily weighted questions. However as the trial progressed the three Witch Hunters turned their attention away from the girl; her mother, Magda, was compelled to speak in her place, at first in defence of her daughter. However as Magda was questioned, the tone and questions the Templars used became almost ritualistic, until Josephine was pronounced clean of taint, and in her place Magda – clearly struggling without success – was compelled to sit in the trial chair. The Templars were invoking some divine incantation, their words binding Magda to her seat; then suddenly her face fell, revealing some otherworldly bestial fury. Magda, the silent, sweet and shy concubine of the Baron, turned out to be a supernatural evil being, a vampire, and the Templars pronounced their terrible judgment on the creature they had bound to the chair: each shot her twice with their sanctified weapons, then cast chair and still thrashing beast into the waiting pyre.

As the flames took her, and smoke began to fill the sky, two shouts from the castle made all cast their eyes elsewhere. The first was a cry of alarm and for a doctor, as the Baron had suffered a heart attack as Magda’s nature was revealed. The second, every bit as urgent, called all to gaze southward; the smoke from the pyre was as nothing compared with the billowing blackness that rose on the southern horizon: the forests were on fire which meant only one thing – Mörder’s invasion had begun.

(Final thoughts, interpretations and explanations to follow at some point).

Splitting Heirs: Session Seventeen

A shame, but a necessary evil, that I am continuing to have to wrap up this AP with bullet-points. It really doesn’t do the experience justice in my mind, but then again might make for easier reading, and a more focussed record.

The following events took place over about a week.

Lady FitzCarstein had the auditors from Nuln to convince in her bid to acquire a single cannon to aid in the defence of Drachenmalstein. The meeting went well, with the Imperial delegation seeming to agree with her needs. Word of confirmation would have to wait though, and after they had left to return to the Imperial foundry Helena decided the time had come to head to Himmelfeuer and finally sell her vision of the future and her plans to survive, even beat back, the pending invasion. Her aim was to unify the council.

Meanwhile, Pou had found Ritter at his shop the morning after his meeting with him outside the castle. The Templar had found Jonn in the workshop whilst awaiting Pou and had heard the man’s stories of bandits in the southern forests and his “persecution” at the hands of Scharf. Ritter was interested, and the information left him ill-disposed to Scharf (whom he had yet to meet) and his ways of justice. Pou had also seen Herbert, whose own run-ins with the Witch Hunter had left him badly spooked, and wishing the outsider out of town as soon as possible.

Ritter ran into Scharf a couple of days later, after the Captain returned from his trip north. Scharf knew the Templar would be looking for him, and called into the guest room as he arrived at the castle. Ritter wasn’t there but his bullish manservant was; Scharf left a message that Ritter could come and find him any time now that he was back in town. Consequently Ritter banged on Scharf’s door later that evening, some 30 minutes after the Captain had retired. There followed a long conversation which Scharf saw as “easier than expected” where Ritter pressed Scharf on his handling of the bandits and then on matters more pertinent to his mission here: Josephine’s whereabouts; Scharf knew nothing and Ritter departed with little more than a few more derisory jibes.

Over the next few days Ritter found out about the impending trial of Pou’s son, Gunter. Visiting Scharf once more the Templar commanded he be given judiciary power in the trial. Much to the consternation of Scharf, and indeed Pou, there was little to prevent the Templar taking this, putting Gunter at great risk; Scharf acquiesced with reservations, not wanting to involve the Baron by disagreeing and losing his ground anyway. Gunter’s trial was not yet imminent, and this development did nothing but rack up tensions and distract from the dual pressures of the coming war and Josephine’s (potential) trial by fire.

Helena arrived in Himmelfeuer shortly after Scharf informed Pou of the Gunter development; she caught up with him outside Pou’s workshop. She was dropping by to inform Pou of the Emergency council meeting she had called for early that evening, but was happy to see Rudi (Scharf) – with whom she had further, more personal, plans to make. Before they had left however, Herbert came bustling up with surprising news: Werner had disappeared. This hastened Helena’s heading for the castle as she had hoped to find everyone before the meeting that evening. She left, but not before arranging to meet Scharf an hour before the meeting was due. Scharf departed too, to check on the Tileans and other aspects of his day job. Herbert watched them go, and then went inside to find Pou. There he spoke firmly; they both knew something was up, and Pou was convinced it was time for action. By the time Herbert left, they both had their own plans to make in the few short bells before the meeting.

Reaching the castle, Helena sought to locate any sign of Werner. Finding it lacking, and his rooms looking too clean, she found Gottfrid instead. The butler was shocked by Werner’s disappearance, the closest thing to a friend he had ever had, and under questioning from Lady FitzCarstein he let his guard down for the first time in years. Werner, Gottfrid revealed, was the illegitimate son produced by an affair between the Baron’s first wife, and his brother Gerhardt. With Josephine’s judgement time getting closer, Gottfrid suggested Werner had guessed that the Baron – who had treated the treasurer almost as a son – may have declared him heir, a situation he feared, and dealt with by fleeing to Tilea. Werner’s absence now considered long-term, Helena left the butler to regain his composure, then set out to meet others she needed to see before the meeting…

Deliberately vague on some things here despite the shorter format because it was building to a head (the next session is/was the last), with the coming council meeting central to resolution of character issues. It makes it seem like NPCs were more central to this session than the PCs to a degree, but this was definitely not the case; instead it was very much a set-up, not entirely colluded but very much worked out and left primed to blow before the finale (which again will, sadly, in all likelihood be underwhelmingly recounted).

I’m pretty sure I’ve missed or glossed over some highlights this time, too, but the session was three weeks ago now and my notes very sparse. Once I got more than a week behind it was always going to be a tall order to catch up and with the game essentially lasting twice as long as I’d expected when I pitched it, I’m disappointed, but not surprised, that my recounting has tailed off.

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.

Splitting Heirs: Session Fifteen

I am now lagging a long way behind, unfortunately, given a lack of sleep causing a deficit of mental freshness and motivation to write. This sadly means that a couple of sessions will have to be summarised with bullet points.

• Scharf invited Pou out of town the morning after the wedding. Thinking it was a social affair, Pou brought his wife; Scharf had meant it as both sword practice (trying to break Pou’s reliance on his guns, which would quickly become useless in any pitched battle) and a clear-the-air talk. Despite their audience, both happened to some degree. Scharf confirmed his identity and revealed his past – including his associations and history with the southern bandits. This angered Pou, especially after what had happened to Jonn at the hands of said bandits, and the meeting was quickly over before the gunsmith did something rash.

• Lady FitzCarstein had chosen to pay Herbert a visit before heading back to Drachenmalstein. She outlined some rather ambitious plans for the future, saying she would support Pou as successor to the Baron, providing he swore fealty to her when she (hopefully) rode onwards, reversing any siege and deposing Duke Mörder, installing herself as Duchess. She revealed some of her knowledge of the situation, but was not able to convince the mayor that she actually had the resources or the ability to carry it off. Plus his natural distrust for her coloured Herbert’s interpretation of everything Lady F said.

• Pou returned to his workshop, where he spoke with Jonn about Scharf, his history, the bandits and everything. Jonn implored his employer that it was obvious that the other members of the council were seeking to isolate him, playing the politics game that Pou despised so much.

• Scharf met with Lady F, who outlined her plans to him. In the wake of Pou’s distrust it was important for them to “stick together” – all sorts of romantic (and less so) insinuations went with this phrase.

• Pou and Herbert spoke, the latter informing the former about Lady F’s mad schemes, to much disbelief, and Pou airing his distrust of Rudi (Scharf); Herbert assured Pou that his son (Rudi) was trustworthy despite his history.

• Lady FitzCarstein returned to Drachenmalstein, spoke a little with Jurgen about the imminently-due Witch Hunters and how to handle them, and then had them turn up. 3 of them, Herrs Ritter, Jaeger and Brunner. Jarla was not due back with her gaggle of hedge-witches until the morning…

• Scharf headed south looking for signs of Rolf, the sergeant he had sent down to scout. He found no trace of them, and was warned off heading into the forests by a man called Aachen, whom he had met before in Brunnenhing’s lands – Gretel had turned to Mörder, he said, and the Duke’s skirmishers were in the forests, and Rolf had either joined Gretel or died. On his way back north, Scharf saw a straw dummy hanging from a tree; it was wearing a Sergeant’s uniform, and pierced with an arrow. He heard laughter as he urged his horse on and away.

So the Templars arrived; a big moment that, as they are now relatively central to the events that will conclude the run. I am afraid I cannot actually recall many of the details of this session beyond the skeletal notes directly analogous with the abovementioned bullet points that I took in the immediate aftermath.

Splitting Heirs: Session Fourteen (part ii)

And so to the stag night, the wedding itself, and the immediate aftermath.

Pou, Herbert, and most of Himmelfeuer were getting into the celebratory swing by the time Captain Scharf made his appearance. Everyone was deep in their cups, with the Tileans forming a separate group in the corner, making many jokes at Pou’s expense, while the man himself was in deep conversation with Herbert, with Mannfred in attendance.

Scharf – who had shaved in the morning before leaving Drachenmalstein, ridding himself of a beard he’d had for the entirety of his service in the aftermath of a powder-burn from rifle practice – made his way over to join them, and drinks were shared. Scharf made sure to drink less than it appeared, and noticed Mannfred was doing the same. Pou, meanwhile, was busily getting more and more drunk. After some jovial japes and conversation, Pou felt the need to go outside and mingle with the wider attendance – many of the off-duty local Kupfers, and the other townspeople (figuring if you can’t beat them, join them, given the noise and the late hour) had gathered in the streets around the inn. Scharf merely shrugged and used it as an excuse to bid goodnight. The shrug gave Pou a strange sense of recognition, but in his addled state he couldn’t put a name to it.

The festivities continued throughout the night, at least for Pou who stumbled in through his door sometime around sunrise. Not long thereafter, Scharf knocked on his door with the intention of getting his friend and colleague ready for the ceremony. Deflecting Pou’s clumsy, still-drunken, attempts to bring up the similarities he saw the previous evening, Scharf prepared Pou hot drinks and food to straighten him up – the nuptials were to take place in a matter of hours, and it would not do to have the groom miss the event!

As part of his final preparations before dressing, a bleary-eyed Pou took himself off to a water pump, and with the fancy-dressed Tilean mercenary leader watching, joking and mocking him, Pou doused himself thoroughly before returning to his residence. There, Scharf presented him with a wedding gift (the original Scharf’s own well-cared for rifle), and agreed to try to have Gunter released under supervision for long enough to attend the celebration.

Lady FitzCarstein made her way into town to present her gifts to the bride-to-be, arriving later than most to the ceremony – overseen by the Baron himself (who had not been told that the bride-to-be’s business was prostitution) as an honour to his Councillor and military Lieutenant, Pou. The ceremony itself went without a hitch – save the central one planned! – and Pou and the newly named Helga de Burns, resplendently dressed, were beaming with delight and barely noticing Gunter was there in chains, looking miserable, with Tileans at his shoulders.

With the ceremony complete the couple circulated, spending a short while with the invited guests whilst the general population were tucking in to the bountiful food provided. It was then, seeing Scharf with Herbert, that Pou realised whom the Captain reminded him of – Scharf was every inch a younger picture of the Mayor. Pou was not able to take this any further in the throng, however, and soon found himself talking to Lady FitzCarstein. The Lady congratulated Pou on the wedding and the event, commenting on the opulence and grandiose provision. Pou innocently responded that “you should only marry once” and that you need to make the most of it – which left Helena seething inside, seeing a condemnation or damnation where none was meant.

As Pou and his new bride moved off around the assembled, Captain Scharf spied Cornelia, Herbert’s daughter and the one responsible for a lot of the organisation, towards the back of the gathering, about to slip off. He caught her just before she did, and then made pains to introduce her to Lady FitzCarstein, before he was, himself, called away (possibly to speak with Pou?). Cornelia and the Lady got on, but each was wary of why Scharf (or Rudi, as Cornelia slipped and called him) was so keen to introduce them to the other. Cornelia was also itching to go somewhere, and while she had the tact to not ditch of her own accord, when Scharf rejoined them, Lady FitzCarstein made excuses to end the conversation, aiding Cornelia in slipping away.

Later that evening, Scharf and Lady FitzCarstein had cause to talk as they walked back to their rooms in the castle. Scharf revealed why he had wanted to introduce Cornelia, his sister; he thought they would get on and hoped she would be a member of his family that Helena could like – a pointed reference to the lack of amicable relationship between the Lady and Herbert. They spoke then about family, relationships and expectations. Lady FitzCarstein revealed how Pou’s well-meant words had stung her – particularly in relation to how her marriage had worked out – and left the unspoken implication of their relationship hanging as they arrived at her door.

Where Scharf said goodnight, and set off for his own rooms.

So the wedding ended up not being nearly as central as I’d thought, but I find large-scale events with lots of people are always hard to run well. Nevertheless, the format of the session worked – the celebrations sandwiched by the contrasting forbidden, unrequited and largely unspoken desire between the other two PCs. Pou’s comments to Lady F after the wedding ceremony and the alternate way she interpreted them is perhaps the best example of how the two situations contrasted, fed off each other, and created a session that was greater than the sum of its parts. This is what I meant by every line being perfect – you couldn’t script the innocent intent and the perceived malice, how one line summed up the contrasts and conflicts of the three protagonists during the session.

The dawning of who Scharf really is on both Pou and Lady F was a fine twist, though well foreshadowed, and it has (since, I am a session behind) had consequences, too – particularly the “poacher turned gamekeeper” angle of bandit becoming military and lawman.

In many ways I wanted to end the game after this session. Each character has gone through a full story arc by the end of it, character drama was both played out and set up nicely for a next stage, and all in all the session just clicked so perfectly – for me, at least – that no planned “plot-based” ending will come close. The game has, thus, climaxed – and in a session that was supposed to be almost a throw-away preparation for a frenzied ending (it won’t work out like that, but hey…).

Splitting Heirs: Session Fourteen (part i)

This session was the best to date by some margin, and I fear that this summary will not even begin to do it justice. However, in an attempt to, I shall split the summary in two.

What was planned as a relaxed low-intensity session covering events surrounding the wedding became a tense, dramatic and highly charged affair that left me gushing about how awesome it had been to sit back and admire as the players ran away with it.

I had explicitly stated that I would bring nothing untoward into the wedding event that wasn’t already in play (like Gunter being in captivity, or Scharf wanting to find and question Jonn). I also said up front there would be no word from the various “outsourced” projects (things like Jarla searching for women with “talent”, Rolf’s trip southwards, or the Kupfers looking out for Josephine), so as to keep the focus squarely on the wedding itself.

Before we got to the big day, however, Captain Scharf had made his way to Drachenmalstein.

Captain Scharf had travelled north both to relay information to Lady FitzCarstein and, more pertinently, remind her of, and convince her to attend, Pou’s imminent wedding. It was two days before the nuptials when he headed up, leaving the evening to convince her Ladyship to accompany him back, and a day’s return travel to Himmelfeuer before the celebratory eve for man and wife alike, and then the ceremonies themselves.

In the event, the pair talked long into the evening. It started banally enough – chit chat and small talk, updating each other on the week’s activities, findings and events. Scharf spoke of news of attacks on the Kupfers to the south, whilst Lady FitzCarstein spoke of her deal with von Schicksal, her precipitous actions in tempting Duke Mörder and not having found the assassin responsible for poisoning the monks of Morr. Scharf wondered at the wisdom of Lady’s willingness to use such a double agent and such kicked off a heated confrontation about how he had dealt more directly with the Duke, and how his indiscretion had forced the Lady’s hand in following suit.

Inevitably, from this position the conversation turned once again to trust, truths, and secrets, and the Captain was motivated to ask a flat question prying into the Lady’s past. He framed it with explicit acceptance that she may not answer, but using analogies to card games, open hands, and playing well with the bad cards one may have been dealt. Inquiring whether her late husband, Hans Bodendreck, had beaten her, he was not surprised when she answered that this had been the case. The follow-up question was whether she had killed him, again framed as if not expecting an answer; it was then further qualified by Scharf taking the card analogy further, and revealing some of his hand.

He assured the Lady that no matter her answer he would not arrest her. The past was the past and it was the present that was both of their concern right now, then laid out that he knew what it was like to have killed someone, outside of war, and to have had no choice. He revealed how he had come to be Captain Reinhardt Scharf, when he had not been born with that name. He had previously admitted to her that he had been known by other names in the past, but not which names, nor how he had come to assume his current one. Here, too, he kept his former name under wraps, but told a tale of how he had been the one who had killed the abusive chandler all those years ago. He stressed that he had not, himself, been abused, but when the abuser had come for him, he had fought back, beating him to death with a set of metal tongs before convincing his fellow apprentices – the other abused souls – to help him push the man down the stairs and generate the story that he had fallen to his death. Scharf told too of how he had then fled the town and, when the caravan he was fleeing with was ambushed by bandits, he had begged for his life in such a pitifully amusing way that the brigands took him in.

He had lived the Bandit’s life for several years, rising through their ranks and earning a following. The bandits, who had preyed on everyone and anyone, also altered their practices, beginning not to, in his words “shit where they eat” – targeting their attacks southward into the troubled lands of the newly lorded and unpopular Duke Mörder, and how he himself had ended up with a sizable price on his head in Mördstat, the seat of the Duke’s power. Then, somewhere over a year ago, chance had dealt him a card to make his way home, and evade the growing scrutiny from those seeking the reward: a Captain Scharf had passed through Mördstat, where he had expired from a burst liver, caused by a lifetime of drinking too much. The inn where he passed was a commonly frequented one for the false Scharf and his comrades, and after rummaging through his things, they found papers suggesting he was to be the new military mind for the von Feuerwaffen Barony. The chance was too good to turn down, so Scharf had presented himself as expected, just somewhat younger and less accustomed to rifle tactics than his record would have suggested.

Scharf had been living his current life ever since, with none questioning his position; a few of the new faces in the ranks had followed Scharf from bandit to lawman, continuing to raid into Mörder’s lands as they did so.

With his cards on the table, Scharf waited for the Lady’s response. Yes, she had killed her husband and covered it up as an accident whilst “off adventuring” (after all, that was how they had come to be wed, when Hans had been working as a mercenary, aiding the Lady’s father in the fight against the undead back in Stirland. Helena’s hand had been promised as part of the payment). She was still wearing mainly black – even 5 years on – as a part of the official mourning period, a status that precluded suitors or re-marriage. The conversation turned then, back to the wedding, gifts, and attendance. The Lady would accompany the Captain back to Himmelfeuer to attend, and in doing so end her official mourning in order to wear something appropriate; they would leave in the morning.

There was still time for them to discuss Josephine, and how no-one knew where she was; even now the Witch Hunters’ arrival was near. Lady FitzCarstein surprised the Captain by intimating that Josephine may well actually be, for want of a better term, a witch – possessing some innate “talent” that may help her obfuscate herself – but that there was little they could do for her in the meantime. Besides, the coming of the Templars posed its own problems for each of them in any case.

The next morning they set off, arriving back in Himmelfeuer in time for the Captain to attend the celebrations at Herbert’s inn that evening in Pou’s honour, whilst Lady FitzCarstein took her residence in the castle.

The first half of the session was thus entirely given over to non-wedding affairs. The chemistry between Scharf and Lady F has been building for the entirety of the campaign and there is both a “will they/won’t they” romance angle and the examination of how trust works between them to keep it burning.

As such I found their scene compelling in every possible way, and writing it up from the skeleton notes I could take at the time (writing more would have meant missing what was said, and how) almost certainly loses the tension and drama that was pregnant in the air throughout. How much would they reveal, and how would each react to the other’s brave admissions?

The two secrets revealed (Scharf’s past, and Lady F’s killing of her abusive husband) were largely open out-of-character, and had been hinted at in character. However the way the reveal was handled by both sides was amazing; this session, just about every line uttered was perfect (more on that later). I’ve often felt that I enjoy GMing most when I have next-to-nothing to do – it means that I can sit back and enjoy watching as the fruits of everyone’s play are borne and then flourish, without fretting over what I am doing next. Almost everything in this session came from the players as the events I had introduced took a back seat to character concepts, secrets and motivations that had been present from the start.

(And if they are reading, I’d love to see written thoughts from them on the scene – particularly anything they think I have missed, distorted or glossed over too much).

Splitting Heirs: Session Thirteen

Scharf led his small troop and the Tilean mercenary company back to Himmelfeuer, the addition of the latter causing consternation in Pou after Jonn had spotted the column returning through the shop window as they were chatting. Pou, having been shot by the Tileans on his previous trip down south, was understandably paranoid about their appearance in town despite the fact they were outnumbered by Scharf’s men, and that they were marching with the Captain’s men.

He was less than pleased to hear they had been recruited, and even less so to find out Gunter was a prisoner, but Scharf explained the necessities of the situation, and pointed out that only his captive status had spared Gunter his life. There would be a trial – for knowingly selling dangerously faulty goods – at some point, but no-one had it as a high enough priority to push the workings through, and Pou could use the time to try and find some sort of representative for his wayward son (not that there were any Lawyers out here – nor real code of laws). Aside from issues surrounding Gunter, Scharf had to sort out pay (with Werner, who was shocked on hearing which mercenaries had been recruited, but agreed to release the funds) and accommodation for the mercenaries. With the castle newly given over to a sizeable number of the Kupfers who made up the militia, the only place for them to stay was Herbert’s inn.

This caused some consternation, as the rowdy Tileans used their residence at the inn to tease Pou at every possible opportunity. Chastised by the clientele, Pou also managed to anger both Herbert and, surprisingly, Captain Scharf by making light of a suggestion that Herbert’s daughter Cornelia – recently back in town after completing accountancy studies in the Empire – might be a good match for his foreman, Jonn. Scharf, it turned out, was indeed still looking for Jonn, whilst Herbert was probably just being overprotective of his only daughter…

Meanwhile, up in Drachenmalstein, Jarla had set out in search of young women with an aptitude for herbalism or “magics” and to offer them the sanctity of the castle under the guise of a Verenan convent – thus hopefully protecting them from the incoming Witch Hunters. The Lady FitzCarstein however set about implementing plans for the castle’s defence, but not before she found time for a long chat with her brother, Jurgen, about the situation; she spoke of how, despite his anger at being shown up, she needed him and his aid, and whether he thought their father would respond to her plea for troops. Top priority however was what to do with von Schicksal. Jurgen was unhappy that Helena believed the captive’s sharp turnabout in attitude, but counselled her that if she did go ahead and turn him loose as a double agent against Mörder then his “escape” would need to seem plausible. He was to disappear the way he had come in – through the Underworks and caverns – but not to bee harmed past the point of functionality despite his crime of trespass.

Once the noble’s fate had been decreed, conversation turned to setting up a “tribunal of Truth” which played upon the staff’s superstitions of their Lady in order to see if the assassin responsible for the poisoning of the monks could be revealed. Jurgen grudgingly agreed to be present as his sister’s guardian should the killer be tempted by the presence of a naked blade and the Lady’s unarmed, un-armoured, presence. In the end the tribunal turned up nothing beyond some minor information that would at best be useful for disciplining unruly staff; the assassin was either too cool to take the bait, or more likely had fled the castle after the deed was done – there was certainly a way out, after all.

Helena also found time to visit Father Cantati in his cell, whereupon she was given the full final treatise he had prepared from the stacks of rumours contained in the tomes brought down from Stirland when Jurgen arrived. The histories showed that sporadically over the centuries nondescript and varied groups had gone from nowhere to significant power, each in a similar manner (acquiring and maintaining great influence over others) before somehow imploding. This pattern fit the emergence of Duke Mörder and his “mini-Empire,” and the Father asserted that the architect of each of these unlikely rises was almost certainly a von Carstein vampire. It had long been thought that one of the clan had fled to the Badlands to avoid destruction, and the machinations of Mörder, and the histories, combined with what seemed to be an unhealthy interest in Lady FitzCarstein (his emissary had been poking around a lot before he was recalled) to lead to a strong conclusion that this von Carstein was active again.

Helena thusly saw to accelerate her defences, and in addition to the deal she had made with Pou (the goods, men, and the Baron’s brother Gerhardt – whom was to be a guest at Drachenmalstein – had all arrived in caravan that day), she sent off a purchase request to the imperial foundry at Nuln, pleading for a cannon. (Pou had also placed an order, independently of Lady FitzCarstein, with the intent of possibly studying and copying the design).

A few incident-free days passed with preparations ongoing in Drachenmalstein and, indeed, in Himmelfeuer where Cornelia and Herbert were busily putting together the finer points for Pou’s wedding, whilst the mercenaries were earning their keep during the days by training the militia, and spending it at night by getting drunk and mocking Pou. A council meeting was called – in Lady F’s absence – when Georg Bodendreck arrived back in town with word that there had been more attacks down south. It appeared that bandits had been selectively targeting the Kupfers still based in the southlands.

This situation was discussed and it was decided it would be wise to call the militiamen in – no force before Himmelfeuer could even hope to stand up should Mörder attack and the men would be more useful up here out of harm’s way. Scharf would, however, send a couple of men, including his Sergeant, Rolf, down to keep an ear to the ground, and to train in raven-handling so as to be able to send advance warning if they spotted the enemy. They, being outlaws who joined since Scharf’s appointment, would also have (secret) instruction to seek out Gretel the Rabbit and find out her side. Pou had also made secret arrangements, sending instruction for one or two of the Kupfers to ignore the call-back and stay, being his eyes and ears.

The only other business of note was when Werner informed the assembled councillors that the Templars would be due in 7 days time.

It was now also just two days before Pou’s wedding, and Captain Scharf, having dispatched Rolf southwards, readied himself for a trip. He would head north to Drachenmalstein, where to inform Lady FitzCarstein of developments and, more importantly, remind her of – and convince her to attend – the imminent wedding.

This was the first session that really suffered from drag from my point of view. Set-up was such that I was able to prep even less than usual and the action would need to come from the PCs. It came about because the constant stream of new and immediate things to investigate finally dried up - I’m (early) in the process of drawing the strings now, to provide a wrap.

Left with space and to their own devices for the first time, the characters fell back on the plethora of “everyday tasks” that they had been ignoring. These were important - training the militia, preparing for a siege defence etc - but of minimal interest in Actual Play, much better that they be assumed and happen in the background. As a result, game-time accelerated and just under a week passed in the session - bringing forward the big events lined up (and the last of the big introductions). The next session is given over largely to Pou’s wedding, thus giving quantified space and a low-pressure session to allow people to relax in- and out- of character, and provide a laid back and joyous counterpoint to the hell that will break loose thereafter when the Templars ride into the Barony.

Splitting Heirs: Session Twelve

Captain Scharf had marched 30 or so men, and Georg Bodendreck the landowner, down to the southlands of the Barony with a view to determining the nature of, and if possible dealing with, the “siege” that Gunter’s brief note had said was in progress.

Camping overnight and then meeting up with some of the local Kupfers in the morning had been the plan, but when his local aid was slow to arrive Scharf took a couple of his more stealthy men and decided to reconnoitre the manor. He quickly determined that the besieging force was a mercenary company of Tileans – those same who had previously occupied Brunnenhing’s manor – and not a standing army in the service of Mörder as was feared. The house was breached, but seemed that Gunter was both alive and holding out; the attackers, however, seemed more interested in jeering and tormenting their prey than storming the house again and dragging him out.

Retreating back to the camp, to find the Kupfers had arrived, Scharf ordered a quiet march up to the manor, hoping to get as close as possible before being spotted. With albeit un-attentive lookouts placed on roofs of the side-buildings however the advancing force were seen before they got within earshot (or, arguably rifle-shot). Keen to avoid violence at least until numbers and advantages had been determined, Scharf stepped up to parlay.

He determined numbers, and that they were there purely for Gunter who, as he had told Pou earlier in the week, had sold their company a batch of faulty firearms, some of which had backfired and caused injury and death amongst their ranks. Protracted negotiations followed and Scharf began to think their beef was justified; he also reckoned that a professional mercenary outfit might be of use. As such he managed to negotiate their employ, telling them who Gunter was and how Pou might recompense financially and materially for his errors, and promising he would be hauled up by the law. All this in addition to payment from the treasury – which they had taken from Werner before now, though were not doing so at this time.

Details of non-hostilities sorted, Scharf walked in, made himself known to Gunter, and persuaded him to open up – he and some house staff were barricaded in the master bedroom. Once inside, Scharf promptly arrested Gunter, regrouped his men and led them, plus the company of mercenaries, northward back toward Himmelfeuer.

Later that evening as they made camp for the night, one of the Kupfers who had been at the manor with them rode up in haste with news that the dispersing militiamen had been attacked by “bandits in the woods” as they were returning to their homes and villages. Figuring this was a mugging gone wrong by the group Scharf knew to be active in the region, he decided that they would not investigate further at this time, prioritising the trip back to Himmelfeuer and dealing with Gunter.

Meanwhile in Drachenmalstein the morning brought a renewed interrogation of the captive von Schicksal, and with it a surprising enlightenment. He had been talking across the cell block with Father Cantati during the night and heard the strong suspicion that Mörder was, or was working for, a vampire. This spooked the imprisoned noble and brought forth his confession – not for the deaths of the monks, but for his reasons for being in the Barony. He had been promised financial support and influential backing by Duke Mörder in the setting up of his own little principality should he manage to persuade Josephine – the Baron’s Daughter – to wed him. Such a union would have handed Mörder the von Feuerwaffen territory on a plate, an outcome that mattered not to von Schicksal until he had cause to doubt his backer’s nature. A pious man, von Schicksal was horrified at the thought of having aided a vampire and pledged to help all he could – once recovered from the beating Jurgen had given him – if Lady FitzCarstein would allow it. Whilst in the cellblock, the Lady spoke briefly to Cantati, too – his final report on the movements of vampires in the Badlands was nearing completion and he wanted to assure her of its readiness.

Away from the dungeons, Helena had written to Pou de Burns in order to arrange a purchase of gunpowder and other munitions for use in the defence of Bardslaughter and Drachenmalstein; the shipment would come north in a caravan also carrying Gerhardt von Feuerwaffen – the Baron’s somewhat addled brother (whom the Lady was planning to pass off as the Baron to all she could). She also had time to have a private chat with her handmaiden, Jarla, about the Baron’s decision to call in the Templars and what it might mean for Josephine – whom they believed to have latent “talent” – and those like her who might similarly be blessed; those like Jarla, and Roderick’s sister Anne, an unusually young and gifted midwife who had joined her brother in the Lady’s household. The Lady decided it would benefit these souls – and the image of herself and her castle – if they were at least to appear as a convent of Verena before the eyes of the arriving Witch Hunters and so she set Jarla on the task of spreading the word, searching out such individuals and bringing them under their wing.

Pou, meanwhile, remained resident in Himmelfeuer, hand-picking the Kupfers for the Baron’s castle guard and overseeing their training as an official militia. He also liaised with Herbert and Cornelia over the wedding plans, whilst trying on the sly to intimate that Jonn and Cornelia would make a nice couple.

OK, it seems from my memory and notes that Pou did not do a lot this time out; probably true, but I’m sure he was more involved than that short paragraph intimates. Nevertheless the outcome of Scharf’s excursion set things up for a possible tense encounter between him and Pou, and more-so for Jonn’s re-appearance.

The game hit a slow point in the last few sessions – a bit like the calm before the storm. I decided between this session and the next that resolutions and an end point would come fairly soon, with the goal to have the game end (at least for this run) as war with the south kicked off. There are obviously still a fair number of things to be resolved and to work their way out before that can happen, but I am confident that most of these can be woven into a fitting conclusion, whilst leaving enough of interest open so that if we as a group were to decide to revisit it in future, we could do so with ease.

Splitting Heirs: Session Eleven

Still no siege, as this session ended up being very light on screen-time for Scharf and his expedition southward. Instead focus was on events in Himmelfeuer and (to end with) Drachenmalstein.

We began with the private audiences that the baron had offered. Only Pou and Lady FitzCarstein took up the offer [of the PCs], as Scharf left to see to organising his men – 30 or so – who would rendezvous with local Kupfers once they reached the southlands.

Pou was first to see the Baron, and they talked about the common man, faith and the plans for Die Kupfers. Pou mentioned official militia status, and how the men were all volunteers, the Baron countered with talk of chains of command, formalised structure and the need to stand down for their future if a given fight was un-winnable. Pou had concerns about how his men would react to being placed under the direct command of Scharf and his small cadre of career soldiery, and as a result – stressing the need for order, men of faith, and standards/reliability, Pou quickly found himself officially named Lieutenant, officer in charge of the Militia. He was a little taken aback by this – formalised rank being the last thing Pou craved – but was at least happy that the Baron agreed with his plans to man the castle from the ranks of the newly official militia. He was to choose his men, prepare them, and present them to the Baron in a week, when they would take occupancy of the castle.

Lady FitzCarstein’s meeting followed Pou’s directly; she caught wind of his title from Gottfrid as she was presented to the Baron, retorting with telling and touching questions about the nature of the box(es) the steward held for Werner. Once alone with the Baron, Lady F counselled the unthinkable – that the Baron disowned his only offspring and sever his family line, thus permitting him to name a worthy heir (and the Lady presented herself as willing to take this role). She spoke of how she knew it was not possible for him to do this, as a father, but how it was the only way that she could see the Barony he had built surviving the oncoming troubles. The Baron, naturally refused. Helena also spoke of the lands to the North and how she was requesting aid – from her father and the Order of the Raven, but also from other lords in the south of the Empire. Alas, she also wanted to be able to send refugees there to harbour, but the Lords would require assurances beyond the tax breaks on travel and trade that she could offer. She tied this in to needing the Baron to offer the prize, and intimated this could only be realised if he did sever ties with Josephine, naming Helena heir in her place, then offered the Lady’s hand to a Lord or his heir. Again the Baron had none of it – it would be too big a betrayal, at least before the Templars had arrived. He did, however, bid Lady FitzCarstein to take his addled brother, Gerhardt, to Drachenmalstein for safe keeping. The Baron argued that if the plan was for them all to shelter there if the attack did come then Gerhardt in his fragile mental state would need more time to prepare and travel than would the rest. The Lady agreed and said she would do this. However she left the meeting angry [for more reasons that outlined here, I suspect] and instead left Himmelfeuer that night, alone, and rode through the night to reach Drachenmalstein.

Next morning Scharf was up, prepared and leading his men off early – but only after stopping by Pou’s foundry for some bits and pieces. Pou wasn’t there, though they had arranged terms the previous evening, and Scharf let himself in to seize the goods. As he led his men out from the castle courtyard, the word was already going round that Lady F was missing.

Pou had got up late(ish) and was in the inn, talking over his “promotion” and wedding plans with Herbert, whose daughter Cornelia was also present and, as a trained book-keeper, quickly assumed responsibility for number-crunching the nuptials. A little later, as he was overseeing a drilling practice, Pou felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned to find Jonn, his hitherto missing foreman, looking him in the face, and seeming worse for wear. Jonn bade Pou follow him to the shop – where they found evidence of a break-in and hoped it was down to Scharf taking the arranged goods, though the thought of the theft irked Pou all the same – and more so after Jonn told his tale as the foreman didn’t trust Scharf at all. But the majority of his tale had been how he’d disappeared to track the retreating Tileans in the aftermath of the attack on Gunter, only to get jumped by bandits, who had tortured him and from whom he had only just managed to escape. Jonn spoke of hearing that Scharf was asking about him from a barkeep who had overheard the Captain’s conversation with Pou some nights before and felt that Scharf was trying to divide and conquer a bit.

Pou still had time to arrange for a few trusted Kupfers to head west looking for Josephine, with strict instructions to make her aware that people were looking for her, and to try to keep her safe.

Meanwhile Lady FitzCarstein reached a silent Drachenmalstein as it approached midday. There was no answer to her approach, knock or call – a truly unusual and disturbing find. It was only after a while when the wind died and she heard faint sounds of life from inside the castle proper carrying out. Annoyed before she arrived, and angry now, she tried the gate and found it unlocked. As she moved in it was clear the noise was coming from the great hall. She proceeded through, and upon throwing open the hall doors found almost her entire staff present. Jurgen was on the dais along with a figure tied to a stake. Helena’s brother hit him once, causing him to pass out.

Helena strode to the dais angry, shouting a challenge to her employees that they had work to do. As she got closer she recognised the limp figure: Helmut von Schicksal, the self-styled “lord” of another Border province. Jurgen claimed he was the poisoner who murdered the four monks of Morr – he was found uninvited and unwelcome in the Underworks, some time after their deaths.

Helena brought the man round and interrogated him. He confessed to the trespass (which could not be denied) but asserted it was accidental whilst pursuing academic interests from caves outside the castle, and categorically denied murder. Lady F laid out her position – including that she had hoped von Schicksal might be an ally in the coming trouble with vampiric forces, the mention of which caught him by surprise. She inquired much of him, his past and how he claimed to be where he was, then consigned him to the cells to await further decisions. Jurgen was livid but Helena would not summarily execute him without talking to him further and learning of how he came to be inside the walls.

Ended promisingly, and with the knowledge that the next session will start (and likely focus) with Scharf’s march southwards and what he finds there, and giving enough information to Lady F to convince her to keep von Schicksal alive was a big bonus for me.

Need to figure out how to write these sooner and quicker though – much missed, much forgotten and still too long and too late!

Splitting Heirs: Session Ten

Bit overdue, this; where to begin?

There was a flurry of email traffic after the shocking revelations that brought session 9 to a close with a bang. Reactions to, and continuations of, the conversation Scharf instigated were flying through cyberspace as fast as they could be typed – it was clear that IC trust dropped through the floor, but out of character enjoyment was riding high. A lot of the substance of the emails was replaying in person at the table at the start of this session – partly because one player had been away and missed the avalanche of messages, and partly because the conversation had more to run that was covered in either the previous session or mails.

Recall of specifics is weak, however:

1) Trust issues were thoroughly laid out – with Scharf essentially being sidelined by the others as far as making wartime plans went, for (paranoid, but vaguely justified) fear that said plans would get back to the enemy somehow.

2) Basic arrangements – largely those in line with what Scharf had already laid out – agreed upon; chiefly this meant arranging for the Baron to move to take residence in Drachenmalstein for the time being.

3) Whether Pou and Lady F would support Scharf if he made his accusation of Werner. Pou was hesitant, citing a lack of solid evidence as a particular worry, and Lady FitzCarstein was supportive, yet careful to make sure everyone knew the potential risks. In the end both seemed (outwardly, at least) ready to support the motion.

The discussion was petering along and out when they heard and saw the clamour of a coach arriving at the castle. Somehow Brunnenhing had found a way to get himself back to Himmelfeuer and, with all the councillors back in town, should the Baron live up to his word, he was due to make an appearance. The arrival of the coach broke up the picnic altogether, Pou rushing off to confirm who it was and Scharf insisting he had another meeting to make. Before he could go, however, Lady FitzCarstein was overcome by impulse and – with Pou retreating into the distance – suddenly grasped the Captain and kissed him full on the lips, before turning away and storming off, angry with herself for her loss of control.

The three PCs then split and went their own ways – Scharf to his meeting with an unspecified individual, Pou to find some of the Coppers and arrange for riders to be sent to gather more in number, as well as to try to find the Baron’s wife to table a proposal regarding the future (not that he found her). Meanwhile Lady FitzCarstein paid a visit to the brothel – seeking to congratulate the future Mrs de Burns, and to pry a little about Pou, without much luck – before retreating to her room to pen urgent letters – to Pou (concerning mercantile matters), to her father (begging troops), and to the steward she had sent to manage Brunnenhing’s lands to warn and advise him of the dark horizons.

All three were interrupted part way through their doings by the bell summoning them to council.

The meeting began with all bar Pou and Lady F present – along with Georg Bodendreck, who was standing at Werner’s right shoulder. The Baron was not yet anywhere to be seen but the general milling of servants and Gottfrid began to strongly suggest he would be making an appearance. The atmosphere was testy, and got slightly darker as Lady FitzCarstein arrived bearing a note of bad tidings. She did not share with the room at large but did let Scharf know: Jurgen had just sent word that the four monks of Morr were dead, poisoned by assassins unknown whilst resident in Drachenmalstein!

Not long thereafter Pou appeared, also looking concerned, for he too had received a message as he made his way to the council chamber. Purportedly from Gunter down in the southern reaches of the barony, it said simply: “Help. Under siege!”

The first business at the table was what Georg was doing there; Werner claimed a motion would be tabled to add Georg to the council at the Baron’s decree, but beyond its mention it was pushed down the pecking order by Pou’s revelation of his note, and the talk of war it demanded. The urgency this imbued stayed Scharf’s hand and the accusation he was to level at the chancellor stayed under wraps. Instead Werner was pressed on how the coffers fared and what, if any, provision might be available for spending as a war chest – hiring mercenaries, paying soldiers and so forth. This pressing was harsh, but not unfair and Werner (grudgingly) revealed a fair amount. Motions were then taken to prompt securing said outside help through contacts maintained by individual councillors.

The further discussions were postponed by the Baron’s appearance. Hubst von Feuerwaffen may have been frail but he was abreast of goings on and rumour and coherent. He was keen to dispel thoughts of his ill health, and then moved swiftly on to the most pressing matter that concerned him directly – the succession, should he come to harm. He asked each councillor in turn for their candid and honest opinion on who should inherit the title and land in his passing. Captain Shcarf spoke first and mentioned Lady FitzCarstein as an astute politician, land manager and suitable noble, also mentioning Pou’s standing with the people and solid financial head. Lady F herself somewhat played down her case, but indicated she thought many of those at the table would do aptly in the role. Herbert spoke up and surprised Pou by mentioning him very strongly, whilst Brunnenhing unsurprisingly mentioned himself as his standing as heir by default suggested he might. Pou was unsure, but re-stated his support for the Baron and the continuation of a noble line; Werner, too, was unsure, answering last and committing a common thought to word: he would rather the Baron survived the coming conflict and give more time to find Josephine a suitable suitor.

The Baron thanked everyone for their input, before unsurprisingly revealing his own position; he would rather the control stayed within his family if possible. However he revealed deep seated worries about Josephine’s suitability and possible “taint”; he had, he said, been confined praying to Sigmar for guidance over what to do about her – something he had neglected for “too long” and claimed his God had given him answer and guidance at last: he had sent for Templars. Witch Hunters. He claimed that he needed to know whether Josephine was “tainted” as he feared, and that if not then matters of succession would be solved by his daughter being given proper training and tuition for the role of heiress. If she should be found to have such a stained morality… well, it was a gambit, but one he had already committed to. This cast a further dark mood over the gathered councillors and it was almost enough to prevent the vote on Georg’s councillorship taking place, but for Lady FitzCarstein’s remembering of the issue. The Baron did indeed sanction the move, and so Georg was voted in, no doubt his case strengthened by the fact his lands ran the southern border of the Barony and were even now possibly under assault.

The Baron left, then, pausing only to leave open invites to each of his councillors to a private session that evening should they wish it. There was still time, if not the right mood for it, for Pou to announce the details of his forthcoming wedding before the meeting broke up and the councillors went their separate ways to make preparations for meeting the threat to the south, and whatever else they had planned…

Interesting session that in the end turned out very differently from the expected; I had pitched the notes given to Lady F and Pou for a situation where they would be revealed after the accusation of Werner – designed to perhaps lessen their support for incarcerating him now and possibly leaving Scharf – gambit played – in a difficult position.

Instead they probably just funnelled the silence. The Baron’s revelation added urgency – especially given no-one knows where exactly Josephine is right now; she did not arrive with Brunnenhing – but not necessarily the depth of concern it would have had the news of a southerly “siege” not been broken.

The council scene was tense, and it was interesting to see how people answered when put on the spot by their liege. I enjoyed setting Pou up for being recommended – it is the last thing the character actually would want – and changing the dynamic on the council, which had become somewhat predictable.

Not yet decided who or what the siege is (it should play out tomorrow) or just how I’m going to advance from here. Hoping that some of the players will take up the offer of one-on-ones with the Baron as it will give me a source of ideas if nothing else. Feeling that it is certainly all drawing in now, but I’ve been under the weather since this session was played and so the game has been something of a tertiary thought – to its detriment and my dissatisfaction. I just hope that will not cloud the potential strength of the next session or few…