From the Journal of one Wigmar Heck, pt 44 (Orks like Bretonnians too)

 

19 Sommerzeit, 2449, Übersreik

We march. Into the Grey Lady Pass we go. In the lowlands summer is in full swing. In the high mountains the snow still lies thick. But the pass to Bretonnia is open.

Near enough two full battalions of infantry, a company of mounted specialists of various stripes, their attending batteries and engineer support, and the fleet of wagons needed to move it all.

Ulf is with me, commanding his company. Doppler the second. I have Anna (Halmstadt minds his tower) and Annika both. And Thes. I even brought Fräulein Nacht for additional magical and moral support. Ankh has gone with the Shallyans to Grausee to cleanse it (the Grandfather has been implicated - fumigation and blessings are called for).

22 Sommerzeit, 2449, Barony of Teufental/Grey Lady Pass

No sign of the ork yet. We turn towards Karak Azgaraz. The 1st Battalion under Ulfberth remains as a holding force just east of Tallerhoff. The lake secures one flank and if the ork comes it must wade a river to get to my men.

23 Sommerzeit, 2449, Barony of Teufental/Grey Lady Pass

Brief battle against a holding force of orks. They were well positioned among the high ground and hard to get at with only a narrow winding road to follow. My sharpshooters were invaluable, keeping them pinned until mortars could be set up. Elevation too steep for effective cannon-fire.

25 Sommerzeit, 2449, Karak Azgaraz

The citadel still stands. Only minimal ork activity. The 2nd battalion under Doppler will remain to reinforce the troops of Nuln. My own men are the less experienced ones, though I find our gun drills and battle order superior to that of the Nulnites. I'm sure they are perfectly fine infantry, but as gunners they lack experience.

29 Sommerzeit, 2449, Karak Azgaraz

Spent a couple of days with the dwarfs then rode at speed back to Ulfberth. My personal wagons and the galloper guns slow us down and we took nearly two days instead of one. On the other hand, we used three full days on the day up.

Tomorrow I march west towards Bretonnia with my companions and the mounted troops. Ulfberth will remain in the blocking position.

31 Sommerzeit, 2449, Barony of Teufental/Grey Lady Pass

Just east of Tequelle we found the pass completely blocked by a landslide so great as to nearly defy description. An entire mountain had fallen and created a hill of stone and gravel hundreds of meters tall. Explains why we've seen zero traffic coming from Parravon.

Took Thes to the top. Found the remains of an ork high up, but no sign of an army. On the other side a pubble had started to form. In a few years there will be a great lake. Maybe the dam will burst and the Pass - and Übersreik - will be swept away?

At any rate the pass is shut. I'll borrow more money to buy donkeys. I'm sure we can find a way for them over and greatly profit.

I go to KA again to speak to the dwarfs. There are old roads up there, leading to Parravon. If we are lucky they are still in good enough shape to take wagons. If not, we shall have to fix them.

6 Vorgeheim, 2449, Karak Azgaraz

The king of the dwarfs agrees to grant us trading rights. I'm going to borrow even more money to buy wagons. With the pass blocked, I should get them for cheap, if timed right. Then we'll reopen the old roads and profit. Surely there will be profit.

Tomorrow we march towards Parravon. Too look for orks and to assess the road.

9 Vorgeheim, 2449, Montfort/Parravon

Roads are not too bad. Had to make some repairs in a few locations, but nothing major. Wagons can come this way. But it's steep, byt the gods it's steep in places. One prancing pony away from disaster so to speak. The men are holding up well enough, but I'm sure they dread the return trip. Getting those cannons back up will be hell...

Orks have been through the area some weeks ago, killing and looting as they go. We found a couple of survivors in Montfort, the first village we came across. Laetitia, a teenage girl, very pretty (if dirty and near starved). Much too fine for a place like this, as confirmed by her gold locket (it had a miniature portrait of her mother, Antigone inside). And her corpulent, dim-witted companion, Giscard.

12 Vorgeheim, 2449, Durak Way/Parravon

The Bretonnians have not kept their part of the road up to standards. It more like a rutted path through the woods. Were ti not for the wagons we could go faster, but no. Gunners without powder, shot, and cannon support are as good as dead.

Met some elven scouts, led by Alvar Oakleaf. They confirmed the presence of a force of orks, possibly 2000 strong, to the west. They had come down the same way we have, and made for Parravon...

From the Journal of one Wigmar Heck, pt 41 (The Road Home)

14 Jahrdrug

The storm's over. Eight days it lasted. The world is covered by snowfall at least a meter deep, much more in places. The dwarfs are confident no more orc armies will appear. We are snowed in and so are the greenskins.

Well, nearly snowed in: we have the tunnel which leads to the Holdfast. From there it's possible to follow the snowy road down the valley to Blood Keep. It'll take time, but its possible.

Ankh

He's weaker now. 

I know why: he's been feeding off the magical energies left by the stone of earth. That's interesting. Maybe if we get him to the stone of fire he could feed on it's energies? Maybe he won't die at all? Maybe he can live forever if he gets enough power?

Weaker or not: every morning he gets up and goes up on the mountain to greet the sun.

18 Jahrdrug

The dwarfs have gifted me a suit of armor. Nothing fancy, just high-quality dwarf steel. Suitable for wearing on travels or in battle. 

Nothing like my gromnil knight's armor. When I get it from Nuln I'll be well protected. Gromnil is indestructible. Or so I've heard.

Speaking of gromnil: the rune axe I got from the ogre is made of the material. Does that mean it can cut through anything? And what happens when a gromnil weapon strikes gromnil armor?

31 Jahrdrug

The 7th Nuln Guards, the first battalion to be fully equipped in the new manner, arrived today. We are already packed and ready to march. We shall leave in the morning.

33 Jahrdrug

We reached Drumstrang's Holdfast. The men put sleds on the cannon and the road has been cleared all the way down to the Keep.

3 Pflugzeit

We reached Blood Keep. Captain Grüber is still in charge of the place.

We will march on the day after tomorrow. Tomorrow is for celebrating our victories and honoring our dead.

5 Pflugzeit

We crossed the bridge into the Reikland.

A detachment of soldiers were camped on the other side, unwilling to cross into Wissenland uninvited. I bad them join the forces at Blood Keep. They complied.

7 Pflugzeit

We reached Dunkelberg.

There are patrols out, watching for signs of orcs. There's been a few raids which they have stopped, but no major attacks. I told them more orcs are coming. They seemed unconvinced.

10 Pflugzeit

We passed Stimmigen. 

Got invited to dine with the local lord. He set a fine table  and his wife had a nice cleavage, but took my orc warnings a little too lightly for my taste.

13 Pflugzeit

Weather is sometimes fair, sometimes not. Some nights are cold, others not. The cold nights are the best; it leaves the roads less muddy. The rainy days makes for hard going and miserable nights.

Marched past the village of Grausee on our way home. Some sort of winter plague had taken hold and the place was under Reiksguard quarantine. 

I left Sigrid with a troop of pistoliers to reinforce them. Don't want no plague on my lands.

A few hours later we were riding across Liberungen lands... finally!

From the Journal of one Wigmar Heck, pt 40 (Second Battle of Karak Azgaraz)

 

2 Jahrdrug 

It is clear that we will have to remain to defend the dwarfs. If we leave and the orcs come back it's game over for them. I've dispatched letters stressing the need for reinforcements. I've also taken the opportunity to write my Adler associates. If war comes to the Reikland and beyond we must be ready.

3 Jahrdrug 

Ankh's situation is much improved. He's no longer the lethargic man waiting to die. He's back to his old self and it pleases me greatly. It is strange though - he seemed so certain he would soon die and that we would meet again when he was reborn. And I believed him. I guess even Ankh cannot foresee everythig.

5 Jahrdrug

The orcs came in force today. A vast horde of orcs, black orcs, goblins, and wolves. They even brought some trolls. We fought them as they came up the causeway. In their hundred they rushed at us and we shot them dead. Even their black orc shield wall could not stand against ball and canister. The trolls caused some trouble but we dealt with them as well. Before the end of the day a thousand or more greenskins were added to the piles of dead. Surely we have slain more than two thousand by now, maybe more.

We suffered casualties, but again not more than we can handle. We are, however, running low on shot and powerder. We could repel another assault like this, maybe two. But if then thousand comes we will run out and be undone.

6 Jahrdrug

There is a blizzard. Strong winds, heavy snows. The dwarfs say it could last a day, two days - or ten. Impossible to tell. While the blizzard lasts no orc assault can take place. 

The Doomstones

I have spoken at length with Diirk's father, Faust Wife-stealer, the Runemaster. He's one of few elders to have survived the orc onslaught - the loremasters were all slaughtered in the Hall of the Ancestors.

From what I understand the Zul character wielded a powerful artifact of his own: the Stone of the Earth. The one I found is the Stone of Fire. Two more the dwarfs made in the elder days, before the War of the Beard, and together they grant master over the four elements. Each stone is powerful on its own - and also dangerous to the wielder - but when brought together their power grows even greater. If all four gems are united there is nothing their master cannot do. 

How or why the dwarfs of old made these stones - fit for use by wizards and sorcerers - no one could say. Seems the height of folly to me. Dwarfs probably figured that out too, because they split up the stones - now called the Doomstones - and scattered them far away from each other.

One stone resides beneath Karaz-a-Karak, the great dwarf hold in the World's Edge Mountains. One was given to the elves for safekeeping. These are the stones of air and water, though there are no records of which is where. The stone of fire was sent to the far north - how it ended up in the Grey Mountains is not known. The stone of earth was carried to the west, perhaps to the Grey Mountains, to Karak Kulgan. It's now in Zul's possession I believe.

Zul is clearly trying to get to the rest of the stones. or the one that's accessible to him - the fire stone. A single wizard has no hope of breaching Karaz-a-Karak or making it to Ulthuan.

From the Journal of one Wigmar Heck, pt 39 (First Battle of Karak Azgaraz)

 

27 Nachhexen

After a night spent huddled in the dark we marched on, following rough tunnels that ran through the heart of the mountain. 

Only a few groups of greenskins opposed the relentless march of Reiklanders and Wissenlanders. None can stand against the might of the Empire united. 

Furak Stonesplitter led us to Karak-Azgaraz before the end of the second day, knowing exactly which way to take. 

I wonder how many such tunnels exist beneath the Grey Mountain? Diirk Thunderhammer said something about there being fewer than in the World's Edge Mountains. And also haunted by orcs and worse. This particular stretch should have been safe enough, but that was before the orc horde descended upon Karak Azgaraz.

The journey would easily have taken two or three times that long on the surface - in the summertime. In winter I'm not sure it can be done at all - the cannons and the wagons would have to be abandoned and that would turned my force into nothing more than dead men walking, rifles frozen, powder damp.

Strange. I am now closer to home than I have been for half a year. All that stands between me and my holdings is a grey wall of rock, covered in ice and snow, that reaches so high it touches the clouds. To reach human lands you must either go south to Blood Keep - a road rarely travelled anymore says the dwarfs - or north, to the Grey Lady Pass and from there to Bretonnia or Übersreik.

At long last we could see a little light in the distance and feel cold, fresh air flowing from outside. We extinguished all light and crept forward. The tunnel deposited us on a stone bridge spanning a gorge. On the other side a stout stone door of dwarf make. Not the main entrance to the dwarf city, but a lesser gate that Diirk called the Copper Door. 

We made ourselves known and were let inside.

There was no time to waste. To orcs had breached the gate and broken the defenders. Even as we rushed inside, the dwarfs were being slaughtered. We fought the greenskins tooth and nail, shot and steel. We met them in pitched battle in the airy Chamber of Welcomes, killed all we could and pushed the rest out through the main gates and onto the plaza. There we slaughtered the rest, set up cannon and muskets to guard against further incursions, and started the process of rooting out whatever orcs and goblins remained within Karak Azgaraz.

We were too late to save the their King, Zaladrin Blood-beard. We found the high lord surrounded by his guards and courtiers in the High Hall of the Kings. Many columns had shattered and great slabs of rock had fallen from the roof, crushing the king and those closest to him.

When the battle was over only five hundred dwarfs of fighting age remained, maybe twice that number of women, children, and the elderly. A grievous loss for the dwarfs, but as was pointed out by their war-leader Thuringar Orc-heawer, infinitely better than total annihilation.

30 Nachhexen

We have repulsed a few orc probes as they tried to send scouts to determine the situation within the Kaer. We are entrenching and will not be moved. Inside the mountain the last greenskins have been dealt with. Groups of my men, guided by dwarfs have proven effective at the task.

The is no new king as of yet: the dwarfs must elect one from among their number. I suggested Diirk, being young, dynamic and well versed in Reikspiel, but this was immediately rejected. He's at least a century too young and also an illegitimate child.

The orcs were led by a human wizard going by the name Zul. An eye witness described him as strange looking. Sounds like a Kislevite or some such to me. He had led the orc horde to Karak Azgaraz, he had broken the gates with magic - despite their warding runes. He had gone to the king and demanded a heart-shaped red gemstone. When then king could not comply - that stone is in Halmstad's handed - he had brought down the roof and stormed off...

On war

Muskets and bayonets are relatively well suited for tunnel fighting. Smoke becomes a problem after the first volleys are fired, but as long as the tunnel is straight you don't really need to see the enemy to kill him. Just keep firing and eventually the survivors - even orcs - will either flee or run onto bayonets.

Grenades can be highly effective but care must be taken when employing them underground. I knew that from the sewers of Nuln but the lesson has been relearned many times in the past few days.

It was a resounding victory of the Empire and my tactics. My own men suffered less than ten percent casualties, the men of Nuln two or three times that, but still acceptable. We hold the battlefield and I expect many of the wounded to recover. We have brought healers and medical supplies, and we know what to do to combat the filth the orcs cover their blades with.

From the Journal of one Wigmar Heck, pt 38 (Grey Mountains in Winter)

 

15 Nachhexen cont.

We took up concealed positions some six hundred feet from the road. We had an excellent vantage point and a line of retreat. Hit the column with shot and arrows as soon as the vanguard came into view. Those orks are hard to kill, I'll tell you that. More heavily armored than your regular greenskin, and large shields too. Hard to tell if I got any hard kills, but at the very least there are a few orks that will carry bullet scars until their (soon to come) dying day.

After some confusion, the orks sent three groups on foot towards us. Twenty-something in total. The rest of the column, at least five hundred in number, marched on. Hard going for the orks, literally an uphill struggle on snowy grown, with a master marksman and his witch elf raining death on them every step of the way. Not every shot a kill, but out of formation opportunities for crippling shots to arms and legs (and  heads) did present themselves.

Not a single arrow shot back at us - a marksman's wet dream. The center group started to falter. We fell back to avoid the flankers. A spear came sailing out from between some white-cloaked boulders. Not orks, but a rugged-looking band of dwarfs, seven in number (like in the fairy-tales).

Their leader was one Furak Stonesplitter of Karak Azgaraz, envoy of King Zaladrin Blood-beard to Karak Norn, the great dwarf hold in the southern Grey Mountains. Sent to summon aid for the increasingly besieged Karak Azgaraz (other envoys had been sent to other holds - but none to human lands), he'd set out with a party of twelve, but five had died to ork attacks on the way back. 

Since there was little hope of actually getting back to the Kaer with an army of orks swarming the mountains, Furak's party made common cause with us. Between us we lured the remaining orks to their deaths. Not all the orks, of course... the ones sent to kill us.

We spent the rest of the day pursuing the ork horde down the valley. We stayed off the road. Hard going, but worth it. We managed another attack on the rear of the column. Predictably, they sent a platoon to deal with us. We fought a mobile battle, weakening them with missile fire until they were weak enough for the dwarfs to slaughter those who remained. Glorious. My load of powerder and shot is running low; I only have enough for another of these little skirmishes. Same with Thes; she's recovered some arrows, but some break and others are lost.

Note to self: These 'black orks' have almost no missile weapons. Some have spears and throwing axes, but nothing that can compete with elf bows and human rifles. I would hate to engage them in melee. Better to whittle then down with missiles!

16 Nachhexen 

We continued to hound the orks with some success. We can hardly kill them all. But we can slow them down. Struck the column several times, halting it. But we retreated before a real battle could develop, using the opportunity to get ahead of the orks to set yet another ambush. Fewer dead orks that way, but we buy more time for fewer shots fired.

Before dark we staged a more serious attack on the orks, attacking their lead elements from an advantageous position. Much bloodletting there was. We then retreated into Blood Wood. The orks followed as the pale creatures watched from the treetops. Deep in the wood a dread knight awaited our coming. We parlayed and it was agreed: we would be granted safe passage, the orks would not. In return: Blood Keep would be handed over to its "rightfull owner" when this debacle is over.

We reached the Keep, save a single unfortunate dwarf, some time during the night.

Had some words with Sister Superior Anastasia regarding the thing in the basement. A bastard of the highest breeding, from back in the day, when  the Dragon collected cunt, not gold. Sent away to rot in the dark when he started to change into... something special. Somehow I don't think twenty years locked in the basement of Blood Keep did the poor sod any favors!

Note to self: I sincerely hope my men got Ankh's message and are riding hard for Blood Keep. If not, we may be in real trouble. I also hope the light will forgive this alliance with the dead. It was entered willingly, to save the living from the orks.

17 Nachhexen

The orks made for the bridge, not the keep. Maybe they don't know we're here? Put a few shots into their backs. That got their attention. A company charged right up the path to the keep and went at the gate with massive axes. We kept at them but those damn shields and that armor make them painfully slow to kill. Before the gate could be breached, we welcomed them inside, then cut them down with a fusillade of fire.

As soon as could be managed I set out with Ulf, Thes and my five riders. The remaining orks, at least three hundred in number by my count, had split up, with one group going towards Königsdorf on either bank of the river. I sent Thes and Ulf to watch the southern group, then crossed the bridge and took the north bank myself.

We didn't kill too many orks. Maybe ten dead and twice as many wounded. But we got them to chase us back towards the bridge. They took up position in the woods, afraid to cross out into open ground. Wigmar has the orks running scared!

I sent riders to the north to see how far my troops had come. They could be here soon. On the other hand, things never go according to plan, so maybe not.

Thes and Ulf returned later in the day. The weakened ork horde had been pushed back by the local lord commanding a mix of militia and house troops. The orks had retreated - in good order - back the way they came: into Blood Wood. Ah, another night of terror for the greenskins. 

18 Nachhexen

My riders finally arrived at Blood Keep. The rest of the army is still days away. The orks north of the river are nowhere to be found. Retreated into the forest they have. Good luck with that my green friends.

23 Nachhexen

The rest of my army has arrived. A little worse for wear than the riders, but looking good. A day's rest and they will be ready to march towards the Karak. Outriders report no significant ork activity along the road into the mountains.

We have also been joined by Captain Kurt Grüber of the Nuln 5th Heavy Foot. It's a mixed battalion, half gunners, half heavy infantry. I will leave the captain and the regulars at Blood Keep, take the rest of the foot and horse and guns into the Grey Mountains. In the middle of the winter. Ulric, favor the faithful of thine brother. Failing that, Ankh, please provide sun and warmth.

24 Nachhexen

We set off into the mountains. A battalion's worth of gunners, a brace of pistoliers, and four cannon. The dwarfs came along of course. 

Two days of hard going along the snowy road but if it doesn't get worse than this, we'll managed. 

26 Nachhexen

On the third day, it got worse. Out of the valley we were now high up in the mountain. No trees, no protection from  the elements. Only grey rock, snow, and unrelenting wind. It would be slow going in the terrible cold. Five days by my best guess. We'd be completely ragged by the time we arrived, not accounting for ork attacks.

Dwarfs had a better idea. Take the underground road from the Holdfast of Drumstrang to the keep: a tunnel cut through the stone between a hidden outpost and the main dwarf town. We had no real choice, so Drumstrang it was.

The place was dead, it's location uncovered by the orks, doors broken, inhabitants slain to the last dwarf. We killed a few stray greenskins, then descended into the earth...

     

From the Journal of one Wigmar Heck, pt 37 (Blood Woods)

 

13 Nachhexen

The White Oak Sanatorium of the Mentally Diverse. Hidden away from prying eyes in the ruins of old Blood Keep, once home to both knights and vampires. A joint Shallyan and Sigmarite venture, paid for by the great Lutipold III, long may he reign. Fifty or so patients, twenty-odd clerical staff, and a few able hands besides. Their leader is Anastasia Krilenko of Erengrad. Appointed by none other than my old friend, Emmanuelle Nacht. I guess that Empire isn't that big a place after all.

Why this sudden charity on the part of the good Emperor? Well, he does seem to have an unusual interest in the Diverse and the Special. Why that is I cannot say. But there is a pattern nonetheless. Maybe it has something to do with the mutated monstrosity special diverse person they have locked up in the basement? Dieter it named itself. It was articulate and spoke a Reikspiel dialect that would no have been out of place in a major Reikland city. Twenty years locked up in the dark. The very first patient to be brought to Blood Keep. What makes him so special he warrants such a prison - yet cannot simply be put down with a bullet to the head or axe in the neck?

Sitting in the glass-roofed winter garden Ankh appeared calm and content. His health is not good. You don't need to be a doctor to see that. He's still just as big as he always was but he seems weaker, less substantial, as if life has already started to leak out of him. But this life, Ankh say, is only the beginning of our journey together. To the light, death is no barrier, it is a doorway to the next life.

Speaking of life and death: the elixir I got from the Countess is the real deal. It's the Elixir of Life, the one Ankh gave to the kings of old so that they could lead long, healthy lives. It's also the first step to damnation: a long life is never good enough for mortal men. Always they crave more. And thus the undead came to be. When I see the Countess next I must ask here more about how they came into possession of those scrolls and how they managed to distill the elixir. Ankh seemed very surprised that they had actually managed to get it right.

We will have to be careful going forward. Ankh's light will protect us and guide us, but the clerics of the other gods will not understand. So we must lay low and bide our time. And we must strengthen the ties between the other gods and Ankh. Ulric is his brother - and by extension Taal - surely there must be other connections to old and classical gods.

Ankh will attempt to bring word to Liberungen about our situation. A dream or omen of some sort. If it works it could shave many days off the time needed for my men to reach Blood Keep.

Night raid

Set out with five good men (plus Ulf and Thes), in the darkest hours of the night, with nothing but starlight and elven eyes to guide us. We found the tracks of the orc that got away during our previous skirmish with the greenskins. Found it disemboweled and beheaded among the trees.

There is something else out there in the woods. It's not us and its not ork. A dark shape among the great trees of Blood Wood. One that not even elven eyes can see. Only by the light is the sun it is revealed. A tall, gaunt shape, cloaked in dark light. It didn't speak, nor did it attack. It fled as soon as it realized it had been spotted.

The orcs had put up a roadblock a bit further up the alley. Curious behavior of orcs. They had an ogre and numbers, so I summoned the rest of my carls and pistoliers. We cut them all down with only a handful of casualties on our side.

The asylum should be safe for the time being. No need to evacuate as I had originally planned. Not now anyway. It's for the best: how do you shepherd fifty of the insane through the freezing snows? And what of the monster below? 

I will take Ulberth and Thesalva and a few of the soldiers deeper into the mountains. We must see where the rest of the orcs are and if possible determine the location and status of the dwarf hold.

14 Nachhexen

It's cold and windy. Light snowfall. We push on. The road is the only way forward, snows are too deep to muck around. Ulfberth is laughing and telling us to bring "skis" next time. Planks of wood you strap to the feet. The man is insane. In a good way.

I feel like we are being watched. On the other side of the valley a figure, mounted. How does it keep up with us? There are no roads there. It's impossible to see who or what it is. The distance is too great, the weather poor.

We made camp where we found a couple of dead and mutilated dwarf runners. Orcs had caught them and tormented them horribly. Herr Malthus was right: never be taken alive by orcs. Fight to the last drop of blood.

15 Nachhexen

A dead knight approaches at dawn. Literally. Undead, surely, but he did not attack. Instead, he turned his dead steed around and left. I'm not sure what he wanted. But I'm pretty sure the dead knight was the rider I saw yesterday. Has he followed our progress all the way from the keep?

Around midday we spotted an entire battalion of black orcs coming down the valley. So many black orcs this close to the Empire? Where did they come from? Herr Malthus always said they come from the East, from the World's Edge.

I will take Thes and continue up the valley. We must know more. A small group is less likely to be spotted. Ulf will take the outriders and head back to the keep and send word to the local nobles. They must prepare for war.

Karak Azgaraz

 

Karak Azgaraz is an old dwarf holdfast deep in the Grey Mountains. Though never as great or rich as the World's Edge hold or Karaka Norn, Azgaraz was nevertheless considered a great hold during its heyday.

These days it has nearly faded from human history. It's deep mines are largely empty and trade has nearly dried up. Scholars may remember the name but commoners - even merchants - will probably draw a blank if asked.

Karak Azgaraz has another problem to contend with, one that consumes all of its dwindling resources: greenskins. Every time the dwarfs try to establish an outpost or open a new mine, greenskins will eventually turn up and see their efforts undone.

It is only a matter of time before this noble house of dwarfs will disappear entirely under a horde of greenskins.

From the Journal of one Wigmar Heck, pt 19 (Home, sweet home)

Hugg

29 Sommerzeit

After a night of song, dance - and too much strigany brew - I woke up earlier than I should have. I went into the woods to have a good piss and there he was, Hugg the goblin, Master Halmstad's servant, waiting for me in the misty morning woods.

The master was concerned, he said. We'd been gone a long time. Maybe we were lost and needed a guide to get back home? We were technically a bit lost but the strigany knew where we were and had promised to take us back home. But they had said weeks or more and Hugg said he knew a shortcut or two. 

And what a shortcut it was. Scarcely a day and we came over a ridge and saw the wizard's tower, just as we had left it.

We talked a bit about this and that. The prince. The stone. And more. I invited my good friend to the wedding but he declined, claiming not to care much for city life. I also got the impression he didn't want to meet Fräulein Nacht. He did, however, again promise to come and visit. I think Jürgen can do great things for my garden and my fields. 

Oh, and I gave him the stone. I had thought a lot about whether to keep it or not, but no. A baronet doesn't keep such gems. It would attract unwanted attention. From dwarfs and thieves and others. And besides, it's definitely magical. I don't need Ulfberths hairs to stand to know that. Just holding it, looking at it, is enough to know it's not a natural thing. Didn't know that dwarfs were magicians. I must ask Jürgen about that when he visits.

30 Sommerzeit

The next morning we set out for home. I cannot wait to see my lands and my darling wife again. I wonder how much work has been done. Hopefully a lot. But knowing how things work, I'll probably be disappointed. But no matter, I'll set things straight in no order.

Only a month left until the wedding. I wonder if I should send out invitations to special guests. Or is it too late? 

From the Journal of one Wigmar Heck, pt 18 (Dwarfholds, princes, and giant gems)

24 Sommerzeit

There was an ork attack in the night but we heard them coming and had the advantage of a defensible position. We killed at least a dozen, maybe more. The rest retreated back along the narrow road, unwilling to give their lives for the greater glory of their warlord.

Having no particular desire to hang around and see if the works could find a way around our position, we moved along the cleft. There were signs of dwarven handcraft all around us, a bit of rough ground leveled, a stone wall here, an archway there. Most of it long since gone to ruin. Emma found a dead dwarf in a rusted mail shirt, equally long gone. Probably a runner by the looks of the scroll case (and a bag of gems, high in value but low in weight) he was carrying. Must have hidden on a ledge and never gotten down alive. The scroll was legible but in dwarven runes, which none of us can read.

In the early morning, we came out of the gorge and into the northern end of a mountain valley. We followed the hoof marks and came to a ledge by a waterfall - a waterfall where the river flowed out of a gap in the cliff face. One horse had fallen off the cliff into the pool below but other than that we could find no trace of the Prince's party. The horses had certainly not gone into the river nor into the cliff.

The hidden dwarf place

Finding the water level to fluctuate we sent in Ulfberth with a rope (he's the only one who can swim) during "low tide," then the rest of us used the guide rope to make our way upriver. It was a tight fit even during low water. Inside we found a small dwarf hold. More like an outpost or castle really.

Many were the mysteries contained within: A chamber sealed by magic we couldn't access (might have to come back). An undead dwarf that was nothing like the walking dead of the Reikswald - he spoke Reikspiel, warned us of danger, and was not aggressive in any way (in hindsight I think maybe he was a ghost, not one of the walking dead, that sensed our good intentions).

We also found a chamber of ancestral worship. Someone, beastmen perhaps, had moved a dragon's skull there (or maybe it was the dwarfs themselves?). Inside was quite the treasure. Gold, silver, gems, and more. Offered up to the Red God (whose name shall not defile these pages) by generations of beastmen. Note to self: that skull could be worth a fortune - a thousand or more gold - to a collector.

Speaking of beastmen: as we were leaving a group entered the outpost. There was a battle, a vicious one in the gloom. Those we did not kill threw themselves into the river and were swept away. Even beastmen fear certain death, it seems. I wonder what the Red God thinks of cowardice? 

We played some with the levers and chains and managed to raise a hitherto submerged bridge. The horse could now cross the wild waterfall and continue along the cliff face. Old horse tracks were clearly visible on the other side. We were back on track.

25 Sommerzeit

In the morning, we entered the nameless dwarf-hold. Long hours we spent in the dark with nothing but torches for company. An utter ruin it was, long since abandoned and bearing all the signs of a fortress fallen to storm. Had orks overrun the dwarf defenders long eons past? Seemed like it.

We picked up some odds and ends and brought them with us. No great treasures like we had found in the waterfall fort. Some old books; perhaps they will be worth something. In the great hall of the ancestors - which seemed a lot like a temple to me - we found a great statue clasping a warhammer. Something, a gem or ornament perhaps, had sat in a niche inside the head of the hammer. Gone, of course. Had Prince Hergard taken it? Or orks, long ago?

We exited the hold through a side entrance high on the mountainside. In the afternoon sun, we could make out a tower in the distance, near a snaking silvery river. So we settled down for another night under open skies. Seemed a better option than resting inside the tomb of the Kaer.

26 Sommerzeit

We followed a narrow, overgrown trail into the valley below. Riders had come this way. How many we couldn't quite tell. Ten, maybe be more, maybe less. Down in the valley, the trail split into two more or less equally-sized tracks. One band - our dead guys - had gone back north. The other band - presumably the group with the Prince - had continued south. So south it was (also the risk of orks seemed much less along the southern route).

We made it to the river without incident and crossed over to the tower. It wasn't too different from Jügren's tower, built perhaps by the same peoples, but appeared uninhabited save flocks of birds, ravens, crows, and other kinds. We passed it by and pressed on.

Later in the day we entered woodlands and were set upon by a minotaur. We put it down with steel and lead. Had it tried harder to kill us and spent less time trying to abduct Emma it might have been more of a threat.

Following the horse tracks, we were attacked by a trio of minotaurs. It could have gotten ugly, but the brutes charged across a wide-open plain and we cut them down with guns and bows. I've heard stories about the prowess of minotaurs, and their unnatural toughness, but they didn't seem so tough to me.

Within their lair, we found Prince von Tasseninck. Incredibly, he was still alive (his companions, not so much). A little worse for wear, but alive and sound of limb (he was a little unsettled, but rest and schnapps should bring him about).

We also found the missing gem from the dwarfhold - Karak Kulgan the Prince named it. A ruby, larger than any I've seen before, shaped like a heart by cunning dwarf hands. Worth a fortune, easily. Mine for the taking. Yet the hairs on Ulfberth's arms...standing up like the bristles on a pig. Something ain't right about that gem.

27 Sommerzeit

We left the valley behind and started climbing into the southern mountains. We don't know the way home but turning north again is no option at all: there be orks. We see them clearly now, many miles away, unaware of our location. Be we're not waiting for them to catch our scent!

28 Sommerzeit

On the 28th (or thereabouts, timekeeping isn't a priority in the mountains) we came down from the mountains and into hill lands. There we met a group of strigany (GM note: gypsies) who welcomed us into their came. They were extremely hospitable and friendly - could easily have slain us all and take our treasures - so I invited them to come to the von Liberungen lands. They said it was a long trip - weeks at the very least - but they would make the trek. Strange that, since we had only traveled for a few days. We spent the night with the strigany, blew off some steam, all of us. Even the Prince seemed to relax and after some of the goblin brew, he was ready to get back into the saddle, so to speak.

From the Journal of one Wigmar Heck, pt 17 (Grey lake, grey hills, grey mountains)

 

19 Sommerzeit

I traveled back home to organize an expedition into the Grey Mountains. The plan is thus: find Emmaretta then have her follow the tracks of the horse into the wilds. Locate the Prince, rescue him if needed, and bring him back to civilization. He'll certainly accept an invitation to my marriage if I'm the one to free him from work captivity.

20 Sommerzeit

I set out into the hills accompanied by Thesalva and Ulfberth - Emmaretta was ranging and we had to do without her services. Luckily she found us on the first day. Turned out she had been tracking the same horse but going in the opposite direction.

Guided by Emma we skirted the Ortschlamm and climbed into the hills. We crested a ridge in the afternoon and looked into a verdant valley nestled between the hills. A lone tower rose from among the great trees of the valley below. I decided to have a look in the morning. Thesalva gave me a lot of elvish lessons - to spite  Emma, no more, no less.

21 Sommerzeit

We went into the valley, where we followed an old and overgrown road towards the tower. I've never seen so many plants and trees and flowers in one place. Everything so verdant, so lush. Colorful birds everywhere. Seemed unnatural to me. Hairs on Ulfberth's arms bristling. Definitely unnatural. 

The lonely tower was less imposing. Six or seven stories, with a round building ringing the base, a heavy gate, and battlements on top. Other buildings scattered about, overgrown with weeds and nearly invisible between the trees.

Seemed uninhabited at first, but then appeared a goblin with a bad leg. Hogg, his name was, and he addressed us in guttural, but comprehensible Reikspiel. The place being what it was I didn't slay him outright. He was no threat and somehow seemed to belong in this strange place.

Long story short: we met the wizard of the tower, Jürgen Halmstad, an Averlander, and got invited to dinner. Emma brought down a deer and we had venison and lemon tarts and more. Hogg is quite the accomplished chef. Better than many halflings I'd wager. We told stories and I was the winner. I was awarded an old dwarven mug of pure silver. Perfect for Hogg's goblin brew. Potent stuff that.

22 Sommerzeit

Jürgen walked us into the mountains along the path the horse had taken and bade us good luck. It was a good path he'd shown us: only half a day's walk, a little more, and we were already high and deep in the Grey Mountains.

We came across the corpse of the legless rider. Orks had caught him and cut him down but somehow his horse had managed to flee. We couldn't quite figure out what had happened. How had the orks caught him? Why that particular spot? Not that it matters.

We pressed on. Found more signs of struggle my a mountain lake. A horse in the water, another man, drowned and arrowed both, Ulfberth pulled out of the lake. Signs of riders scattering to the four winds. We settled in for the night, determined to go the way the riders had come in the morning.

23 Sommerzeit

There be orks. Literally. We came across some scouts manning an observation post. Little orks or maybe goblins - I find it hard to tell the difference. We sent them back to the earth. Later in the day, we sheltered in an old dwarven watch post at the crest of a ridge. A score or so work boys were headed straight for us so we made a little ambush in the reverse slope. It was a bit rough for a patch by we put the fear into them and half the warband ran away.

We rode on as fast as Emma could track. Made sense to put as much distance between us and the main work host (there are always more greenskins). We sheltered fort the night inside the mouth of a narrow crevasse. Only a single narrow path allowed access - and we'd be sure to keep watch all night. If orks came after us, we could hold them off indefinitely.