Sturmgeist005Recap:Belly of the Beast pt 1

Else lies dead, the result of a shot from HM’s Colt 1911 and with her death ends the immediate Nazi threat. Or does it? There is still the stone to be found and protected or perhaps moved to another location. They spend the morning waiting for the promised assistance from the protectors, but as the day wears on HM in particular grows restless and our heroes decide to head off into the moors themselves.

Into the misty Scottish moors they trek. Taking the car as far as the roads will allow they finally abandon the vehicle and head off on foot picking their way amongst the fens and brush and trees, hopefully, in the direction of the castle. With night falling around them they begin to wonder if they have somehow missed the path when they come upon a familiar figure. The old woman bent over her washing by the water jars HM to action and he opens fire on the apparition but with no visible effect, though she does turn to regard them with her empty eye sockets. As she begins to move towards HM his companions try to prevent her, Michael by first throwing salt at her and then by trying to strike her with an iron poker, and Billie by interposing herself between the ghostly figure and HM. Nothing seems to deter her from her course and she “walks” up to HM and reaching out with one bony finger draws some kind of symbol on his forehead. Just as abruptly as she appeared she turns now with clothes other than HM’s and returns to her washing at the stream’s edge.

Somewhat shaken and confused by the exchange with the ghostly old woman, nonetheless, our heroes make their way to the top of the nearest hill to get their bearings. Once more oriented they return to making their way towards the ruined castle. As they paused for breath atop a hillock they looked down into the dell created between two hills and saw a great shaggy wolf of feeding on a stag it had managed to bring down. Evelyn never fond of the sight of blood quailed at the sight before her and so was spared the sight when the beast turned to regard them and stood on its hind legs revealed to be some horrifying hybrid of man and wolf, the stuff of legend sprung from the pages of cheap novels, a werewolf. Enraged and with fresh prey before it the shaggy hulking monster charged to the attack and nearly tore Micheal in half with its claws. Things looked dire indeed for our heroes when the night was torn by three gun shots from nearby which felled the ravening werewolf before he could do more harm. With mounting horror they watched as the wolf breathed its last and then sloughed off the wolfish form returning to that of just a man. No sign of the mysterious hunter has so far been found.

Lesser men and women would have turned back perhaps to seek out the stone on another day but not our heroes. Onward to the castle. Armed with intelligence from the Protectors Evelyn quickly found and opened the doorway leading down to the stone’s resting place by means of a narrow twisting tunnel that forged deep into the earth beneath the moors and lead finally to a sea cave.

With few choices but to press on HM, Billie, Evelyn and Michael began to explore the series of chambers. Evelyn noted the finely fitted stones and the well crafted doors that had stood in this place for perhaps a thousand years. The first room revealed nothing terribly useful or interesting, the second carpeted in thick shaggy moss. The third though had four mighty columns standing in the corners. The columns were revealed to be in fact thin stone sheeting over glass as HM stepped upon a shifting stone the four columns burst asunder showering the heroes with their crawling scrabbling contents. Thousands, tens of thousands, of insects of all kinds poured over them though no real harm was done as the swarm poured out of the door instinctively seeking freedom through the sea cave.

The next room seemed more a long wide corridor than a room and as they made their way across the floor a wall of spikes burst from the side to bar their path narrowly avoided by the quick reflexes of Michael. Billie examined the mechanism and found the way to release the wall and slide it back into place and most likely even how to rearm it in case of pursuit. Three more walls of spikes blocked their path though again no harm was done. At the end of the corridor room they found a tall stone statue of St. George who had stood in this place since the time of the crusades and at its feet a small metal box containing a finely crafted escutcheon of platinum and gold embossed with the symbol of St. George and bearing the legend of the dragon slaying saint engraved upon its surface in Latin. A discussion of what should be done with the token of St. George remains to be resolved.

In the aftermath of the fight with the nazis our heroes begin to clean up, and bring the bodies of the fallen Scots into the house to lay them with some dignity at least. While HM and Michael laid the bodies of the slain Scots in the house Billie and Evelyn retrieved the book and looked for clues. Before any tangible information could be gleaned vehicles arrived bearing the remaining Scots and their ultimate leader in the area, Siobhan’s father.

He took the news of his daughter’s death with typical Scottish stoicism focusing instead, for now, on the business at hand of dealing with the newcomers and their reasons for being in Scotland and their interest in the stone. Our heroes managed to satisfy him that their purpose was to protect the stone from the Nazi’s and sought only to keep it from harm. He reclaimed the book from them but gave them a coin by which they could identify themselves to the protectors in Forth where according to him the stone now lies.

Driving into the night our heroes make their way towards the Firth of Forth to search for the stone. Drained with fatigue and the constant tension brought by the threat of the Nazi’s some slept while others it would seem succumbed to hallucinations as HM once more saw the eyeless old woman by the side of the road once more washing his bloody clothes.

Finally arriving at Forth they found the inn and made contact with the protectors in the area who have promised to help as much as they can.

Hoping to have evaded the nazis for a while they settle in for the night. In the morning HM and Billie go out to have a look around and spot a familiar red and white German roadster and go to investigate. They find the car empty except for a bundle which Billie takes as HM disables the car. Michael awakens and as he goes to the stairs to the common room notices that the door to the ladies’ room is ajar. Opening the door he sees Else standing over the still sleeping Evelyn with Kingsley’s journal in her hands. The book more important than vengeance Else flees through the open window quickly pursued by Michael. The chase and the ensuing fight range into the alley behind the inn and the noise draws the attention of HM and Billie who quickly move to join the fray. After a protracted fight the nazi agent is slain by a bullet from HM’s pistol.

Our heroes arrive in Dumfries and take lodgings at a comfortable Scottish inn just in time for the evening piping in of the haggis and a round of drinks before setting in for the evening. One last check of the surrounding area lead them into the moors in the dark of the night. As they made their way through the moors they came upon a woman seemingly washing clothes by the stream. Wondering why someone would be washing clothes at this time of night they approached inquiring if the woman was well? When she turned HM recoiled in horror seeing her dead empty eye sockets, that she was washing his clothes and that they were covered in blood. Understandably horrified by the apparition HM fled into the night and was finally stopped by Billie, Michael and Evelyn.

The next morning the search began in earnest with the group going first to Dumfries castle and exploring the ruins looking for clues. Little would be revealed in the ruins of castle Dumfries so they turned their search to Threed where Michael nearly fell into the water when he rounded a corner though none of the others noticed. On to Caerlaverlock where they would find a passage down into the depths beneath the moors. Following the narrow passage our heroes found a room that might best be described as a chapel. It was clear that the stone could have been here or may have been here at some time but no longer. The only inhabitant was a great black hound that pursued them back to the entrance from which they had come.

Exiting once more into the cool night air of Scotland Billie, HM, Michael and Evelyn were greeted by the muzzles of Scottish guns surrounding them. After a tense but brief standoff they convinced the leader of the Scots that they meant no harm and in fact meant to protect the stone from those who would take it. Siobhan, the leader of the Scots, lead them to her house to discuss matters and learn more of their intentions and what they knew.

Before they could do little more than exchange names nazis arrived once more and in the following gun battle all of the nazis were killed though the cost might prove to be higher than any would wish as Siobhan also lay dead.

Session 2: To the North

As session 2 opened our heroes were once again on the road, this time headed back to London to gather their belongings and rest up with the intention of leaving at dusk to make their way to Dumfries in Scotland to try to find the real Stone of Scone. The drive back to London was uneventful and about mid-morning they arrived at the hotel. Billie and Evelyn went to their rooms to “freshen up” while H.M. and Michael made their way to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. After a bit the ladies joined them and they began to lay their plans.

At this point Evelyn noticed that their waiter was paying a bit more attention to them than they thought appropriate. They questioned the young man (Michael seems to have an unhealthy dislike for people from White Chapel) and then the mait’re de. Though questioning them didn’t reveal anything telling, both seemed a bit off. The waiter brought a bottle of champagne and glasses, “Compliments of the hotel,” to them. Before they could drink, Michael (being a good Irishman) having declined the champagne poured whiskey from his flask into the champagne flute which began to bubble and fizz ominously. Michael spied the waiter lurking near the kitchen door still watching them. Excusing himself he made his way towards the restroom and as he passed the kitchen door gave it a shove and smacking the waiter in the face. Under the guise of helping the unfortunate waiter he “escorted” him to the restroom to help staunch the blood flowing from his nose but really to question him. The ensuing fight left the waiter dead with few answers. A quickly retrieved “Out of Service” sign hung on the door might (hopefully) give them a small chance to get away without having to answer unwanted questions from the police.

Michael headed up to their room to gather their belongings while HM went to fetch the ladies and make their escape. Unfortunately a maid was found poking around their room and when confronted drew a knife on Michael. A quick but brutal fight with the maid left an injured Michael but before she could finish the job HM and the ladies arrived and so the maid had to make her escape through the window. It was suggested that Michael’s wounds needed tending and so Evelyn suggested a nearby infirmary. His wounds were cared for by a German (Nazi?) physician who maintained that he was Jewish and had left Germany to get away from the Nazi’s and wanted nothing to do with them.

Once more taking to the road in their trusty Bently our heroes made their way northward eventually stopping for petrol at an out of the way station. Inquiries with the proprietor revealed that his sister Margaret ran a nearby inn to which they retired for some much needed food and rest. The evening passed in relative quiet for most everyone except for Evelyn who found the night noises of the countryside to be somewhat disturbing. In the morning after a robust breakfast our band of stalwarts were back on the road towards Dumfries.

As they were driving they noted a familiar Mercedes in pursuit. A running gun battle and car chase en followed. HM armed with a salvaged MP38 opened fire on the Nazis, but when offered an MP38 Billie declined pointing out that she had her own and produced her trusty Thompson. Under the hail of fire from our heroes and a very well placed shot to the driver’s head (Though I honestly don’t remember who did it) the chase ended with the Mercedes disabled, its driver dead and the remaining Nazi pursuers stumbling out of their car. Quick work was made of the remaining Nazi thug leaving only Hans Becker who they had met at the professor’s house. Though outnumbered and out positioned the Nazi was not about to give up and oddly our heroes fell victim to all manner of strange sudden maladies. Confused and dazed it took several minutes for them to rally themselves and finish off the Nazi.

Searches of the dead Nazi’s revealed more forged papers and few answers. Answers, if any are to be found might be found at castle Dumfries.

Game ReCap 20120314 Session 1

Player (Character) – Gina (Billie Carlisle), Dave (H.M. Leister), Stephen (Michael McHugh) and Molly (Evelyn Stratford)

This was the first game session and the start was a little rocky. However, we got through it because of the awesomeness of the players and moved on through the first night pretty well. I promise I will try to do better with future sessions.

HM and Billie arrived in London aboard the QM2 and made their way to their hotel in the (area) part of London. A knock on Billie’s door revealed a young lad bearing an invitation to a reception that very night of the British Archeological Society. (This is one of the places I should have handled better because the reason for them going was not as clear to them as it should have been.) After making their preparations they took a cab to the reception and began to mingle.

At the reception they overheard someone addressing Evelyn (Again needed to give them better background information) and introduced themselves. A brief pleasant conversation followed until a disturbance at the front of the room drew their attention to the entrance of Professor Thomas Kingsley. Upon seeing Evelyn the good professor made his staggering way through the crowd only to collapse into Evelyn’s arms in obvious distress. With the final words, “Don’t let them find it,” he shuddered and died whereupon Evelyn found his blood all over her hands causing her great distress. As Evelyn tried vainly to clean the blood from her hands and subsequently fainted Billie and HM quickly searched the body and found a small diary. Billie revived the stricken Evelyn and the trio quickly made their escape before the authorities arrived and began asking unfortunate questions.

Billie suggested they go to find her contact and found Michael in the pub a near brawl broke out between Michael and HM over Michael’s very fine hat, but hostilities were avoided at the urging of the ladies. (Ok hindsight being more clear there were better ways this could have been accomplished but it’s done now so we’ll go with it.) The diary, it turned out, was the research diary of the late Professor Kingsley and contained his knowledge of something called the “Stone of Scone” which Evelyn knew from common lore to be the throne seat of Scotland (among other things) and was kept at Westminster Abbey.

The quartet decided to go to Westminster Abbey to make sure that the Stone was still where it belonged. Arriving well after closing time at the abbey and after some discussion about where to park their Bently. Though the guard a kindly older gentleman named George originally refused to let them in some convincing and a bit of flattery got them to the front door where Billie noticed that at some point recently the door had been forced. Further investigation into the abbey revealed that the stone had been tampered with and might not even be the real stone at all. Back to talk with the kindly guard and they learned that nobody had been into the abbey since closing time and the vicar had closed up himself. In fact the only people who’d been around were the vicar, George and the other night watchman Bert.

Bert arrived some time later and after some close questioning by Michael was revealed to not be from White Chapel at all, but was in fact a Nazi agent. While distracted by Michael’s show of pugilistic expertise the Nazi didn’t see Billie behind him but he definitely felt the weight of the Derringer in her purse as it cracked his skull. Loading Bert into the boot (that’s trunk for all you Americans) off they went to the home of the late and lamented Professor Kingsley.

As the sun came up over the channel our heroes arrive at the professor’s home and find that it has been broken into. Bert is beginning to stir in the boot and rather than face probable torture and questioning opts to take his own life with the highly dramatic poison tooth ploy. Exploring the professor’s home they find his housekeeper the victim of foul play dead in the kitchen and the house has been ransacked. The searchers did not however find the secret research journal of the good professor though our sharp eyed heroes found it right off. From it they learned that there is much more to the Stone of Scone than anyone supposes, and that the stone in Westminster Abbey has never been the real stone. According to the journal the real stone was last reported to be in Dumfries Castle in Scotland.

Quickly exiting the house our heroes come face to face with a grim man in a long dark coat and four burly men with no neck and one eyebrow. The man introduces himself as Herr Becker and demands the professor’s research be returned to him. Unwilling to give up the book the heroes refuse the Nazi’s demands and a gunfight erupts. After trading shots for several minutes, Evelyn suddenly had an urge to give him the book and was only restrained by Michael. American firepower turned the tide of the little battle when HM and Billie opened fire felling two of the Nazi’s the rest quickly made their escape. Our quartet thought it best to be somewhere else when the authorities arrived and quickly drove off headed back to London to retrieve their belongings and make their plans.

Every campaign gets an Adventure Log, a blog for your adventures!

While the wiki is great for organizing your campaign world, it’s not the best way to chronicle your adventures. For that purpose, you need a blog!

The Adventure Log will allow you to chronologically order the happenings of your campaign. It serves as the record of what has passed. After each gaming session, come to the Adventure Log and write up what happened. In time, it will grow into a great story!

Best of all, each Adventure Log post is also a wiki page! You can link back and forth with your wiki, characters, and so forth as you wish.

One final tip: Before you jump in and try to write up the entire history for your campaign, take a deep breath. Rather than spending days writing and getting exhausted, I would suggest writing a quick “Story So Far” with only a summary. Then, get back to gaming! Grow your Adventure Log over time, rather than all at once.