17 Pflugzeit
On the second day of the Schaffenfest, I brought Ulfberth and Thesalva into the sewers. The smell when the watchman popped the cover of the manhole...but it wasn't too horrible once you got down into the dark, stinking tunnel. You got used to it pretty quickly. Ulfberth not so much. He threw up repeatedly and didn't let up until he was well and truly spent.
We wandered for a long time in the dark with only lamp-light to guide us. Along wide tunnels with a refuse channel in the middle and walkways on the sides. It was hard to tell where we were and what time it was. At one point we found a corpse floating in the channel. A dwarf drunkard I had last seen at the fair - in the stocks outside the Magistrate's tent.
Had nearly given up finding the three-legged goblin when I caught the scent of blood. Strange how this familiar smell could cut through the stink of the sewer. We followed a bloody smear along one wall - until it abruptly stopped. Couldn't find a mechanism so I had Ulfberth hammer the wall with the back of his ax.
Soon enough we had a hole big enough to walk through. Fresh mortar and a wooden construction backing a secret door. And beyond it, a hidden temple or ritual chamber. A mystic pentagram with seven points (a septagram would be the correct name Anna told me afterward) inside a double circle drawn in blue salt, a silver candlestick with a black candle at each point, and a bronze disk with a ram's head in the center.
We found the remains of the goblin. It had been...eaten. Only the bones of the unfortunate creature were left, the marrow sucked out. Whoever had eaten it had been hungry indeed. There was more blood in there, dried blood, a great deal in the middle of the circle, and some sprinkled across the seven points. A dagger etched with arcane symbols we found in a cupboard along with more candles.
We located the nearest manhole and began our ascent. I was up on the streets with Ulfberth right behind when the monster struck. Thesalva shouted something, then fell silent. Ulfberth let go of the rope and landed on his feet in the muck. I dropped back down, landing in the middle of the refuse channel, in time to see Ulfberth flying through the air, hurled with great force by an unseen assailant.
The beast was not of this world. Foul spirit or daemon? Maybe a spirit. In the stories, the daemons are foul monsters with claws and scales and forked tongues. This thing was an immaterial thing, made of smoke and shadows. Its claws still cut though. My pistol-shots, however, passed right through the thing.
On a whim, I brought out the bronze disk and shot it between the eyes. The disk that is. The shadow-creature screamed. In agony or anger, I couldn't tell. Ulfberth joined the fray and between us, we hacked the disk to pieces. The shadow fled down the tunnel, defeated or banished. It all happened so fast. There was no time to be afraid or stand around doing nothing. I wonder what Bova will make of this. Should I tell her at all?
We got Thesalva out of the sewers and brought her to the temple of Shallya. They burned our clothes, hosed us with cold water, and threw lime dust on us until we were white as snow. Long story short: she will live but will have to remain in the temple for the time being.
Visited another temple on our way back to the inn. The great temple of Sigmar was presided over by High Priest Ludo Edel, a man not much older than me. He took the disk and promised to look into matters. He didn't recognize Bova's name and seemed more concerned with us not discussing what we had seen - and especially not mentioning that the secret room was located between the Steinhäger offices.
There is something rotten in Bögenhafen. And I intend to stick my nose into it. We must plan and rest but on the morrow, we must act. But where do we start?
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