1 Kaldzeit
Three days of battling against the current, always surrounded by steep cliffs. It's a wonder there is any river trade at all along this hellish stretch! Full moon tonight. Maybe Ulfberth will turn and put us all out of our misery? I would not object. In the meantime I will get drunk on brandy and burrow my head into elven flesh.
3 Kaldzeit
We passed below an ancient pair of megaliths hulking on either side of the river. Renate says the druids of old built them. Using what cranes, I replied. Humans can't move rocks that big with only their hands.
Past the megaliths the canyon widens somewhat and the river flows smoother. Another few hours and we'll reach the Unterbaum locks. We've seen a few boats going the other direction but we've given them as wide a berth as the river allows.
4 Kaldzeit
Didn't even bother visiting Unterbaum. Had a chat with the locals down at the docks and they confirmed that Hertzen's party had come this way. They'd tried to get the smaller boat up the River Narn but it had capsized. We'll not make the same mistake. We'll go up the locks and Renate will wait for our return there. The cultists are about two months ahead of us. Can't see how we'll catch up with them.
5 Kaldzeit
Found one of the cultists ritually slaughtered and impaled on a wooden pole. My guess: they sacrificed one of their own to whatever foul gods they believe in.
6 Kaldzeit
The weather has turned to shit again. Cold rain and wind, with a hint of snow. Enough to make everyone wet and cold and miserable. Well, Ulfberth seems to be holding up just fine actually. His Norscan blood and wolf fur I suppose. I'm glad I have Thes to keep me warm. Ankh looks positively miserable though but he's a big lad - and has the warmth of the sun inside his heart.
7 Kaldzeit
The going is extremely hard. We're following the Narn upriver to avoid getting lost but there terrain is fiendishly rugged. Saw some large canoes on the river far below today. Looked like a more pleasant way to travel - if you know how to operate one.
9 Kaldzeit
We're getting closer to the dead land, I think. The trees here are different. Younger, gnarly-looking. Like they are slowly growing back.
10 Kaldzeit
We reached the barren part of the Baden Hills. Really barren. Not a single living thing beyond a line in the dirt, going on as far as the eye can see. I wonder what happened here.
Saw an undead stag eating on a corpse. Chased it away. Another of Hertzen's men, stabbed in the gut with an old spear. Someone had cut his throat after for good measure.
We camped near a circle of ancient standing stones. Lots of old bones in the ground. Reminded me of Unfer and the Drinker.
11 Kaldzeit
We found the spot: a muddy crater in the ground, half-filled with water. Lots of tracks and discarded equipment. No prize in sight. Found another dead man in the water, murdered. These deaths are not the same as the first sacrifice. Something else is going on.
Found their camp later in the day, abandoned in a great hurry, probably many weeks ago. Another corpse in the latrine pit. The big oaken box was there, so we pried it open. Another chest inside, made of pure lead. Just as empty.
I think the cultists got here, didn't find what they were looking for because someone else had gotten to it first. But who are killing them? Monsters? I think not. Blades made those wounds, not claw or fang.
I had first watch with Thes. Fell asleep. When I woke my elf princess was gone and a dark shape stood before me. A ghost of a woman long dead. She begged me to show mercy, to give her body a proper burial, to say a prayer over her so that she might find rest. I agreed and followed her into the darkness.
Brunhilde and a few others had come to the hills nearly two hundred years ago to retrieve a piece of warpstone that had fallen from the sky. A big piece. They had found it - and then they had been killed by the leader of the part: Dagmar von Wittgenstein, the very man whose secret tower dungeon I had opened.
Brunhilde is the cause of the cultists's deaths: she had pleaded with them too, but they had mocked her, driven her off. So she had "released the darkness in their hearts" whatever that means. The result had been bloody murder: one man every night.
She brought me to a steep rock face. Found some bones there, bleached but untouched by scavengers (there are none in the dead area). Before I could bury her remains two skaven scouts appeared. Yes, the vile rat-men are not extinct but very much alive. A most fortunate rock-slide buried the pair - I guess the ghost was to thank for that.
I made her a grave of rocks, a cairn, then headed back to camp. Ulf and Ankh were awake, with a bound Thesalva. She had tried to murder them in the night. I guess she too has darkness in her hear. But with the ghost gone she seemed her usual charming self so I had her released.
12 Kaldzeit
We made our way into the cave mouth revealed by Brunhilde's landslide. A little digging was required. I slithered inside and had a look around. Got ambushed by an undead knight that nearly was the death of me. Tried calling the light of Ankh but it didn't work. Of course it didn't - I had a lantern, didn't I? Ankh will give me light but only if I trust in his light and his light alone.
Another couple of undead - a dwarf warrior and a barbarian warrior - waited for me but were reluctant to cross the daylight filtering into the cave. Ankh gave them the light of the sun and that was it. We had a look around and secured whatever was left that had any potential worth. The knight's heavy sword for one. And a magical key from old Dagmar's pack, just like the one carried by the undead creature from the observatory basement.
More skaven appeared, trapping us inside the cave. A skaven warband, in broad daylight. They are getting bolder. They leader - Crot Scaback - spoke Reikspeil of sorts. He demanded we give them the warpstone or they would attack. I told him honestly we did not have it. He said he believed me, but that we had to die so the secret of the skaven's return would die with us. Then they covered the exit with tons of rock. We made our way out through a secondary exit, across a foaming stream, and into the hills.
13 Kaldzeit
We're out of the dead area. Found another stone circle. This one has been used more recently. By beastmen I think. Feasting on cultist flesh. Don't know how many were slaughtered. Ten maybe? A red crown was painted in blood on one of the stones. I wiped it away, foul thing.
Shot a deer to avoid starving. We should get out of these hills.
26 Kaldzeit
We ran into a villager from Unterbam, thank Sigmar. It's been nearly two weeks since the cave. I've lost track of the days and the miles walked. We've been utterly lost.
28 Kaldzeit
We're reunited with Renate, bathed, fed, drunk, and well fucked. Returning to Kemperbad should take only four days with the current and all. We'll rest there for a spell and plan our next move.
32 Kaldzeit
Kemperbad again. Finally. I must have brandy and a feather bed.
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