The Curse of the Dertflinghans: Chapter Seven

letter from DR. PROMETHEUS HARTSTONE to AN UNKNOWN ASSOCIATE

21 April.

My Friend,

I trust your man Dolf will see this letter delivered without delay. It is nearing noon here so I would expect him to reach your residence by nightfall. Until I receive further instruction in your hand (and bearing your seal) I shall remain in hiding at the farmstead where he left us. As to the events which occurred last night, I shall be as brief as may be without omitting any crucial information.

Your messenger met us at the Black River crossing yesterday afternoon and passed me your instructions. As per your wishes, we waited until dark and then made our way toward the graveyard specified on the map. I admit that I was skeptical of its existence as I have never heard of there ever being a settlement of any significance in the area which you had marked. However, when we came out of the wooded track, there were the unmistakable shapes of long-forgotten mausoleums looming amongst the broken fences and the decrepit trees. Your description was most accurate, and I can only guess that you have been here at some time in the past, although I cannot imagine what your purpose might have been.

In any event, we lit torches, divided the tools, and spread out across the cemetery grounds. I began a search of the closest structure...


...while Delilah moved on towards the northern end of the graveyard where another edifice stood out in the moonlight.


Thanks to the superhuman strength of my most-trusted creature, gaining access to the mausoleum was a rather swift affair.I followed the stairway down to a chamber of modest proportions, and upon examining the lone sarcophagus, determined that a grave robber of a past generation had done his work well. As I re-entered the night air I noticed that my creatures were agitated, as if something in the engulfing darkness had aroused their enchanted senses. Delilah was not within my field of vision and I could only assume that she too was searching one of the great mausoleums.

It was then that a mighty howl broke the night's serenity. Considering my research background and experience, I knew immediately that it was the call of a lycanthrope, or more specifically, the call of great alpha werewolf summoning his ilk. Then, without warning, the perpetrator of the call came bounding out of the darkness and brutally attacked one of my creatures. In all of my travels and explorations, I have never seen a specimen so large and so savagely efficient.

Within seconds, he and his lesser brethren were tearing through my creatures with a supernatural level of martial skill that is difficult to describe in writing.


Truth be told, I had little time to scrutinize my creatures' misfortunes as I had enough of my own. A pack of Carpathian wolves swarmed towards me and I did my best to keep them at bay while I crouched in the doorway.


Luckily, your servant Dolf came to my rescue, and with a combination of butchery and torch-waving, the threat was dealt with. We threw ourselves inside the mausoleum and did our best to bar the door behind us.


This morning we came out and found that the majority of my creatures were in a reasonable condition considering the thrashing they had received. Delilah, it turns out, had also taken refuge in a mausoleum for the night. The previous evening's events notwithstanding, Delilah, Dolf, and I are certain that the object of our search is not contained within this cemetery.

Although in your eyes our charge was undoubtedly a failure, I consider both the time invested and the perils endured justification enough for a first payment to be made in my favour. It would be most convenient if you could outline the arrangements of said payment in your next correspondence.

Patiently Yours,
Dr. P. Hartstone

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Game Talk:

This game served as Marc's entry into the campaign. We played the Seek & Find scenario from Tom Weiss's scenario pack. The three mausoleums and the outdoor sarcophagus contained the four objectives. Each player could use his characters to seek out an objective by making a TN2 Mind + Scholar roll. As it turns out, we each found two of the objectives and then found our models in a series of brutal combats.

We also rolled the Treacherous Agent special event. Dolf (one of my citizen models) played the part. He began the game as a character in Marc's warband. Unfortunately, the necessary cards were never drawn during initiative, and so he never changed sides during the scenario.

We were also unclear as to whether the Mad Doctor warband list falls under the Master of Evil or the Female Victim special rules. We decided that, until we get official clarification, the Doctor himself is a Master of Evil. Here's how it all went down:

Found most objectives (1 VP) - 2 each, neither player
Held most objectives at game's end (1 VP) - werewolves, all 4
Capture Female Victim (1 VP) - n/a
Kill Master of Evil (1 VP) - werewolves achieved

Result:
2 VP werewolves
0 VP Mad Doctor
= major victory for werewolves

A major victory means that I can add a new character to my warband roster. I'll go with either the option of a third asylum inmate or paint up the Old Woodsman model I just prepped up today.

Thanks for reading,
JET