The storm had swallowed Castle Wittgenstein whole.

Rain came slantwise through the shattered windows of the tower laboratory, driven hard enough by the wind to sting exposed skin. Beyond the glassless frames, the night convulsed beneath the sickly green gaze of Morrslieb. Lightning crawled through the clouds in veins of emerald fire, and each thunderclap seemed to strike the tower itself, rattling glassware, chains, surgical instruments, and the bones of Lady Marguerite’s abandoned work.

The lady herself lay dead. Her creation did not.

It crouched amid the wreckage of the laboratory, a towering gray patchwork of stitched flesh and crude metal staples, its broad shoulders heaving as it struggled to understand a world into which it had been born badly and too late. Ratmen crowded the windows. One of their larger kin, armored in rusting mail and carrying a polearm, fought the creature at close quarters.

Above the overturned operating table hung the object for which they had all apparently come: a stone the size of a man’s head, glowing inside a suspended lead vessel. Its light was green. Nothing in Castle Wittgenstein that glowed green had yet proven beneficial.

Felrick Flappan leveled his pistol through the smoke and confusion. The large ratman was occupied with the monster, which meant there were no companions between Felrick’s muzzle and his target. For a man afflicted by a tendency toward disastrous marksmanship whenever friends crowded his line of fire, this represented the closest thing to providence.

He fired. The pistol cracked like a second thunderclap and smoke boiled around his face. The ball struck nothing. Felrick stared through the haze at a ratman who remained inconveniently alive.

Nora did not wait for Felrick to correct the matter. Blood already darkened her clothing from the wounds she had suffered, but she strode toward the Stormvermin with her claymore raised. The ratman’s poleaxe flickered between them, the long weapon making the space around him his own private kingdom. Nora tried to close and the polearm’s head swept before her. She checked her attack, tried again, and the butt of the weapon snapped around and forced her back. The ratman chittered through yellow teeth.

It was skilled. That was unfortunate.

Qavitrae solved the problem by being faster. She discarded her crossbow and swept forward with both elven blades drawn. The Stormvermin turned too late. One sword flashed high, demanding his attention, and he moved to answer it. The second blade came from below. Fine elven steel punched through the inferior mail beneath his robes and entered beneath the sternum.

For a moment the ratman seemed almost surprised. Then Qavitrae drove the weapon upward and his strength abandoned him. She pulled the sword free as the Stormvermin folded around the wound and collapsed into the mess of Marguerite’s laboratory.

One problem solved. Several more immediately presented themselves through the windows.

Wanda abandoned her greatsword. The ratmen climbing through the opening were small, quick creatures with crude spears, and the two-handed blade was too slow for what she intended. She drew her Morgenstern instead and advanced toward the nearest window. The first rat thrust at her, and the spear scraped armor and failed to penetrate. Wanda looked at the weapon, then at the rat. It occurred to her that the creature had made a serious professional error.

Thindruk, meanwhile, had developed a plan. This was always dangerous.

The overturned operating table was massive, broad enough to fill much of the space before the windows. He planted himself behind it, braced his shoulder, and shoved. The table moved. Then it struck the monster. The creature stumbled, caught itself, turned, and looked down at the dwarf. Thindruk kept pushing. The monster planted its enormous feet and the table stopped.

For a moment noble dwarf and newborn abomination regarded one another over the edge of Marguerite’s ruined furniture. The creature roared. Thindruk roared back. Neither seemed entirely certain what this accomplished.

Behind them a ratman tried to slip toward the glowing stone, which decided the monster’s loyalties, at least for the next few seconds. It spun away from Thindruk and charged. The rat barely managed to raise its spear before one of the monster’s enormous legs swept upward. The kick lifted the creature bodily from the floor and hurled it into the stone wall. It struck with a wet crack, dropped, coughed blood, and somehow still tried to stand.

Wanda pointed toward the window. The monster did not appear to understand. It was, in fairness, very young.

More claws scraped stone outside. More ratmen were coming. Felrick’s eyes shifted from the windows to the monster, and an idea formed. It was not, strictly speaking, a kind idea. He raised his pistol again. The monster saw the muzzle. Felrick fired low.

The shot did not strike the creature. It did not need to. The flash and report made the abomination recoil instinctively, its great body folding awkwardly, one foot tangling beneath the other, and it crashed to the floor. Thindruk stared. Felrick stared. The monster stared up at them with growing hatred.

That worked better than expected.

Felrick reloaded with practiced speed and turned his pistol toward the rat the monster had kicked into the wall. The creature had just recovered enough to stagger upright. Felrick fired, and this time the ball struck squarely. The rat jerked backward, lost its footing on the rain-slick stones near the window, and vanished into the night. A flash of lightning illuminated it briefly as it fell. Then it was gone.

Wanda drew a breath deep into her chest and her voice struck the room harder than the thunder. The words were part prayer, part battle cry, part promise of extremely immediate violence. The remaining ratmen flinched as if slapped. Even the monster hesitated.

Then Wanda swung the Morgenstern into the nearest rat. Metal met ribs and several of them broke at once. The impact lifted the creature off its feet. It struck the windowsill, arms pinwheeling wildly, balanced there for one absurd moment, and toppled backward into the storm.

The window was beginning to acquire a theme.

Outside, more ratmen crawled up the tower wall. Inside, Thindruk looked again at the table. The first attempt had failed because he had tried to move an enormous piece of furniture through an enormous creature. The enormous creature was now lying on the floor. Thindruk saw an opportunity.

“We need shoulders,” he said.

Qavitrae joined him. So did Nora, whose breathing had become rough, her wounds severe enough that every exertion seemed to cost something she could not readily replace. Still, she placed herself beside the others.

Together they lifted the table. The monster remained curled on the floor, and they carried the great slab over him. The ratmen at the window turned. There were three of them, and they had just enough time to comprehend the approaching furniture.

Thindruk drove forward and the table struck all three at once. Small bodies folded over its edge. Claws scraped wood. Spears clattered away. The combined momentum of dwarf, elf, wounded athlete, and heavy Imperial carpentry carried the entire shrieking mass toward the opening. The table slammed against the wall. The ratmen did not stop. All three vanished through the window.

Thindruk leaned over the edge. Below, flashes of green flame erupted where bodies struck the earth. That was troubling. More troubling were the dozens of tiny eyes climbing toward him. Ratmen covered the tower wall, coming without ladders or ropes, claws finding impossible purchase in wet stone. And in the courtyard below, something stood apart from the swarm: a figure holding a staff, with another green stone glowing at its tip.

Thindruk stepped back from the window. “There is another one,” he said.

No one needed him to clarify what color it was.

The monster rose. Or tried to. Its immense body lurched upright, requiring nearly all its strength simply to untangle itself from the floor. When it finally stood, it found Felrick at the far side of the laboratory, still holding the pistol.

The monster remembered that. Its stitched face twisted, and it charged.

Felrick lifted the gun. The creature saw it and flinched again. Felrick fired near its legs, and the monster tried to avoid the shot, tangled itself once more, and crashed face-first onto the laboratory floor.

Qavitrae looked down at it. There were philosophical questions to be asked about the nature of innocence in a creature assembled from corpses and brought unwillingly into existence by a madwoman. There would be time for philosophy later, assuming it stopped trying to kill Felrick.

Felrick aimed carefully. The monster looked at him through the gap between its fingers, and its expression had changed. The first shot had frightened it. The second had humiliated it. This time there was recognition in its eye, and hatred.

Felrick fired. The ball struck the creature’s head and the back of its skull burst across the stones. Its massive body twitched once and lay still.

For a brief moment the tower laboratory was quiet except for the storm. Then claws scraped against the outer wall.

Qavitrae looked up. “The stone.”

They had nearly forgotten it. That, she suspected, was exactly how objects like this killed people.

The glowing rock remained suspended above the ruined operating table in its lead apparatus. Nearby stood a second lead vessel fitted with a removable handle, along with long metal tongs and a larger lead-lined casket. The contraptions were unmistakably human, which meant they were unnecessarily complicated. Qavitrae approached anyway. Even before the vessel opened, she could feel heat radiating from within.

The safer procedure became apparent after a moment’s inspection. The stone could be transferred into the lidded carrier, which could then be lowered whole into the larger casket. The handle detached afterward so the casket could close.

Felrick came to help, and between them they maneuvered the apparatus. For one terrible heartbeat the weight shifted. The carrier tipped. Green light spilled across the laboratory, and every shadow became sharp, every corpse briefly awake. Felrick caught the vessel before it overturned. Qavitrae steadied it. Together they lowered it into the casket, the lid closed, and the green light vanished.

No one spoke for a moment. Then Qavitrae said, “We are leaving.”

The approaching ratmen were almost at the window. There remained one substantial piece of furniture. The table.

They turned it lengthwise and Wanda and the others helped drag it to the opening. Voices squealed below. The table went out. It fell edge-first, struck the first climbing rat, and began to cartwheel down the tower face. One ratman flew free. Then another. A third vanished beneath the tumbling wood.

For several seconds the storm rained ratmen. It was not the worst weather Castle Wittgenstein had experienced that evening.

Felrick moved to the window with his longbow. The figure with the staff still stood in the courtyard below. Wind tore at Felrick’s coat and rain streamed from the brim of his hat. The target was distant, half-obscured by darkness and the storm, but the glow at the end of the staff marked the ratman well enough. Felrick drew, released, and the arrow vanished into the rain.

Far below, the figure staggered. Shapes around it rushed forward, seizing their leader and pulling him away. Felrick almost smiled.

Then the staff rose. The green stone flashed. The entire castle moved. Not shook. Moved.

Stone groaned beneath their feet with a sound too deep to be called thunder. The tower lurched. Cracks raced across the walls.

“Go.”

No one needed Qavitrae to say it twice. They seized the lead casket. They seized the chest of Wittgenstein gold they had already secured elsewhere in the tower. Then the laboratory began to come apart around them.

They fled down the spiral stairs. Behind them, the tower separated from the castle, and the sound was colossal. Stone screamed against stone. Masonry split. The upper tower tilted outward, hung impossibly against the storm for a heartbeat, and then fell. The party crossed into the main structure just before the connection collapsed behind them.

The tower plunged into darkness. A heartbeat later came the impact. The floor jumped beneath their feet and dust exploded from the walls.

Through shattered windows they could see the courtyard below tearing itself apart. The temple sank first, its front descending into the ground while cracks spidered outward across the spire. Whole sections of masonry folded inward. Green fire erupted from newly opened fissures.

Castle Wittgenstein was dying, and there was no dignity in it, no grand final defiance. The fortress simply began collapsing under the weight of everything that had been done inside it.

They ran. The lead casket was monstrously heavy. So was the treasure chest. Every staircase became an obstacle. Every doorway seemed narrower than before. The castle groaned around them like a ship breaking apart in a storm.

They descended. Another violent convulsion passed through the structure. Stone blocks dropped from ceilings and dust thickened the air. Nora stumbled but kept hold of the treasure. Wanda took a falling fragment against her armor. Thindruk was struck by another. Neither stopped. Somewhere behind them, part of the castle collapsed with a roar that seemed to pursue them down the halls.

Felrick ranged ahead. In the dark, he could see where the others could not. He called the path, found the stairs, and led them toward the dungeons.

There they encountered two surviving Wittgenstein soldiers, standing amid the shaking stone with a barrel of provisions beside them, frozen between competing instincts. One apparently decided flight was the wiser. The other chose treasure. He grabbed the chest and helped carry. Thindruk did not object. This was not the hour to debate feudal obligations.

They descended again. More masonry fell. The stairs jumped beneath them. The casket slipped once and the treasure chest dipped dangerously. Hands tightened. Boots skidded across dust and broken stone. Nothing was dropped, and that fact alone felt miraculous.

Then the smell changed. Cold river air reached them through the underground dock. The boat waited, and Aubrey Hennig had already begun preparing it. Felrick sprinted past the others and onto the deck. Ropes came free. Oars were readied. The casket was hauled aboard and secured below, and the treasure followed.

Thindruk turned to the two soldiers. There was, even now, a ceremony to be observed.

“In recognition of your service to Viscount Steelbone and the Empire,” he proclaimed over the ruin of the castle, “you are granted clemency for your crimes and safe passage upon our vessel.”

The soldiers stared at him.

“Now row.”

That part they understood immediately.

Wanda took command of the deck. Voices rose. Oars dropped into black water. Felrick seized the helm, and the boat pushed away from the underground landing as stone began falling into the river behind them.

The passage out was narrow. Too narrow. Felrick guided the battered vessel between the rocks while the cave itself seemed intent upon closing around them. A falling block struck the boat. Timbers splintered. Water began entering somewhere below. Felrick kept them moving, and the river opened ahead.

Behind them came a noise too large to comprehend.

Castle Wittgenstein collapsed. Not merely the tower, not merely the inner keep. The entire stone spire folded in upon itself. Walls hundreds of feet above the Reik vanished into a boiling cloud of dust, rain, masonry, and green fire. The bridge connecting the inner and outer works tore apart. Towers leaned. The great mass plunged into the river, and the impact displaced the Reik itself. A wall of black water surged outward.

“ROW!” Wanda screamed, her voice cutting through the storm. Oars struck together. Again. Again. The vessel gathered speed and Felrick tried to angle them away.

Then a vast section of the castle struck the water beside them. The wave caught the boat broadside and the deck tilted. For one impossible moment the riverboat seemed determined to become a wall. Everyone grabbed what they could. Qavitrae kept her feet. Felrick did not, and as he slid toward the rail she caught him.

Wanda had been standing free, setting the rhythm for the oarsmen. There was nothing within reach. She went over the side and the river swallowed her, and the boat surged away on the wave.

“Wanda!”

No answer.

Felrick twisted around, searching the black water. Rain struck his eyes. Foam covered everything. For several moments he saw nothing. Then, far behind them, movement on the bank. A figure. Wanda.

She had not tried to chase the boat. She had done the only sensible thing available to a heavily armored woman in a flooding river, which was to swim for shore, and somehow she had made it. Wanda dragged herself onto the mud, rolled onto her back, and lay there beneath the dying rain, sucking air into exhausted lungs.

Across the river, Castle Wittgenstein continued falling. The green fires faded gradually. The towering silhouette that had dominated the river for generations was simply gone, and what remained was a mound of broken stone.

The storm began to weaken. Morrslieb disappeared behind the clouds. The Reik carried the battered Dandy Frow Line downstream.

They circled back for Wanda. No one said much when she climbed aboard. There were victories that encouraged speeches, and this was not one of them.

They had survived. They had the gold. They had the stone. They had destroyed, or at least witnessed the destruction of, one of the most corrupt places any of them had ever seen. And their boat was taking on water.

Victory remained a complicated business.

They limped toward Wittgendorf. The damage became clearer as the river calmed. One section of the hull had been smashed above the normal waterline, and whenever the boat rode low or rolled with the current, water spilled through the break. Not enough to sink them immediately. Enough to make the future interesting.

The second vessel they had sent ahead was still tied at the village docks when they arrived, though it rode low and looked nearly as questionable as everything else in Wittgendorf. Lights appeared in the boathouse and the starving remnants of the village emerged cautiously. The sight of the Dandy Frow Line returning from the direction of the vanished castle seemed to inspire a complicated mixture of fear and hunger.

Food simplified matters. A barrel of salted fish was opened and the villagers descended upon it. Hands plunged into the barrel. People shoved one another aside. Salted flesh disappeared almost faster than it could be distributed.

The two surviving Wittgenstein soldiers needed no encouragement to remove any remaining sign of their allegiance. During the journey they had become increasingly convinced that their new employers had personally destroyed Castle Wittgenstein. No one corrected this misunderstanding. Each received a gold coin, and they departed rapidly.

Thindruk, meanwhile, wanted information. The inner castle was gone, but the outer works might have survived, and some of their allies had remained there. He held silver before the villagers and asked who would go to the castle and discover who now held it.

At first hunger proved stronger than courage. Then the barrel began to empty, and a man and woman eventually stepped forward. They would go. They were promised silver for useful information, and more if they returned before dawn, and they disappeared into the darkness toward whatever remained of Castle Wittgenstein.

The others turned their attention to the boat. The damage was bad. Not terminal. The hull required proper work from a boatwright, timber shaped specifically to replace the damaged planks, and Wittgendorf had neither the facilities nor, apparently, the sort of functioning economy in which such a tradesman might still exist. A temporary patch could be made. Boards. Pitch. Tar. Enough to slow the water, and perhaps enough to reach Kemperbad.

That decided their immediate destination. Nora needed a healer. Her wounds were severe, and there were limits to how long courage could substitute for blood. Kemperbad was large enough to offer a temple of Shallya and the sort of physicians who might wash their instruments before placing them inside another person.

There were larger questions beyond that. Middenheim. Again and again their trail seemed to bend toward it. The larger mystery had not ended with Castle Wittgenstein. If anything, the destruction of the castle had merely burned away one layer and revealed another beneath.

But those questions could wait until morning. For the moment, there was the boat to patch, wounds to bind, watches to set, and one more unpleasant matter to consider.

The stone.

The casket sat below decks, lead around lead around something that had glowed like a piece of Morrslieb itself. They had carried it out of the castle. The ratmen had wanted it badly enough to scale a tower in a storm. A rat sorcerer had shattered Castle Wittgenstein rather than allow them to depart unchallenged with it. And now it belonged to them.

No one seemed particularly comforted by this.

Later, as exhaustion settled over them, the consequences of the night began to make themselves known in subtler ways. The castle had been steeped in Chaos. There had been daemons, sorcery, the green stone, Morrslieb burning above the storm. One could escape a collapsing fortress more easily than one escaped such things.

Qavitrae felt it. So did Nora. Not a wound, not yet, but something less mercifully obvious: a stain carried inward. The others had endured the night without the same touch, or perhaps merely without recognizing it.

For Qavitrae, the irony was particularly bitter. Elven blood resisted many of the gross corruptions that twisted human flesh. If Chaos had marked her, it might choose somewhere less visible to make its home. That thought offered little comfort.

Outside, the storm finally passed. The Reik flowed dark and indifferent beyond the dock. Somewhere upriver, where Castle Wittgenstein had stood, rain fell upon a new mountain of rubble.

Perhaps the ratmen were dead, the daemon beneath the castle crushed, every secret of the Wittgensteins buried forever beneath the collapsing stone. Perhaps not.

Morning would bring news. After that would come Kemperbad. Then, perhaps, Middenheim.

For now the survivors had a wounded boat, a wounded companion, a chest of stolen gold, and a lead casket containing a poisonous green stone coveted by rat sorcerers. By the standards they had acquired during their travels, it qualified as a successful evening.

Session Notes

  • The session resumed in the uppermost laboratory of Castle Wittgenstein, at the top of the tower connected to Lady Marguerite’s chambers.

    • The party had previously passed through a bedroom containing staged corpses, a dressing room, a library filled with blasphemous books, and finally the laboratory.
    • Lady Marguerite had been conducting an experiment there when Ratmen invaded through the tower windows.
    • Lady Marguerite had already been killed in the fighting.
    • Nora had been stabbed by one of the Ratmen and remained standing but wounded and bleeding.
    • Lady Marguerite’s grotesque experimental monster was still alive and engaged with a large, heavily armed Ratman identified as a Stormvermin.
    • Several smaller Ratmen were entering through the shattered laboratory windows.
    • Suspended over the laboratory table was a large, glowing green stone, roughly the size of a human head or larger.
      • It rested within a lead receptacle suspended above the table.
      • Strange metallic cables descended from the device.
      • Elsewhere in the laboratory was another lead container, essentially a lidded bucket mounted on a removable handle, along with equipment apparently intended for safely moving the stone.
      • The Ratmen appeared intensely interested in acquiring the glowing stone.
    • Thindruk had already overturned the large laboratory table.
      • This prevented the smaller Ratmen from easily climbing onto the table to reach the suspended stone.
      • The Stormvermin was large enough that it could potentially reach the stone without the table, although it was occupied fighting the monster.
    • Outside the shattered windows, a tremendous storm raged.
      • Rain blew through the windows into the laboratory.
      • The green glow of Morrslieb showed through the clouds.
      • Green-tinged lightning flashed repeatedly across the sky, accompanied by heavy thunder.

  • Felrick acted first as the fighting resumed.

    • He chose to fire his black-powder pistol at the Stormvermin because it was engaged only with the monster and therefore gave him a target without any of his companions in the melee.
    • Felrick aimed before firing.
    • The shot missed.
    • The pistol’s report filled the laboratory with noise and black-powder smoke, but the Stormvermin was unharmed.

  • Nora moved against the Stormvermin.

    • She advanced rather than charging because she was not far enough away to make a proper charge.
    • Nora aimed and attacked the Stormvermin with her claymore.
    • Her initial attack was accurate, but the Stormvermin still had enough action available to attempt a defense.
    • Because Nora’s claymore was a slow weapon, the Stormvermin received an advantage when trying to parry.
    • The Stormvermin successfully kept Nora at bay with its poleaxe.
    • Nora used one of the party’s Fortune points to force a reroll, but the result still favored the Stormvermin.
    • The Stormvermin used the reach and maneuverability of its poleaxe effectively, threatening Nora with the blade and then sweeping the butt of the weapon around to prevent her from closing effectively.
    • Nora preserved her remaining actions for defense rather than committing further.

  • Qavitrae moved in to take advantage of Nora’s engagement with the Stormvermin.

    • She let her crossbow fall and drew her paired elven swords.
    • Because of the distance, she charged the Stormvermin.
    • Qavitrae attacked with her two-weapon fighting style.
    • The Stormvermin had exhausted its actions and was unable to defend.
    • Qavitrae inflicted a devastating blow for 27 damage.
    • She described the attack as using her defensive sword high to draw the Ratman’s weapon aside, then driving her other elven blade upward beneath its sternum.
    • Her fine elven steel pierced the Stormvermin’s poorly made mail shirt.
    • The Stormvermin was killed, gutted from the pelvis upward through the torso.
    • Qavitrae’s initiative increased by one as a result of the kill.

  • Wanda turned her attention to the smaller Ratmen entering through the window.

    • She dropped her Zweihänder and drew her Morgenstern.
    • She specifically chose the Morgenstern because its powerful quality could knock opponents backward.
    • Wanda intended to use it to knock Ratmen directly out of the tower window.
    • She moved up to one of the Ratmen and attacked.
    • The Ratman attempted to keep her away with a crude spear consisting mostly of sharpened wood reinforced with strips of iron.
    • The Ratman successfully parried Wanda’s first attack.

  • Thindruk attempted to use the overturned laboratory table as a movable barricade.

    • He took cover behind the table and attempted to shove it toward the window.
    • His immediate goal was to reduce the available combat space around the window and push the battle in that direction.
    • Moving the table required him to contend with Lady Marguerite’s monster, which was standing in the path of the table.
    • Thindruk did not initially intend to attack or injure the monster, only to push the table and force the monster backward.
    • Thindruk and the monster made an opposed Athletics test.
    • Thindruk failed his initial effort.
    • The monster also initially performed poorly, but its immense physical strength gave it a large advantage.
    • The monster succeeded after the contest was rerolled.
    • Thindruk was able to lift and shove the heavy table into the monster hard enough to make it stumble, but the creature caught itself, planted its feet, and resisted.
    • The monster looked down over Thindruk with its pale gray, stitched face and roared.
    • Thindruk roared back.
    • Thindruk elected not to attack the monster afterward.
    • He remained behind the table in hopes that the obstruction would make him a less obvious target and that the monster would continue attacking the Ratmen.
    • He called for another person to help him move the table.

  • One of the small Ratmen attacked Wanda.

    • It jabbed repeatedly at her with its crude spear.
    • Wanda attempted to parry with the benefit of her shield.
    • She critically failed the parry.
    • The spear struck her for 5 damage.
    • The damage did not exceed Wanda’s damage threshold, so the stab failed to meaningfully injure her.
    • The Ratman had only two action points available each round, unlike the more capable combatants.

  • Lady Marguerite’s monster shifted its attention away from Thindruk.

    • Its face showed rage and confusion.
    • Its body appeared to have been assembled from multiple parts, with metal staples and stitches visibly holding portions of its pale gray body together.
    • A nearby Ratman attempted to move along the wall toward the suspended green stone.
    • The movement attracted the monster’s attention.
    • The monster whirled away from Thindruk and charged the Ratman.
    • It kicked the Ratman with enormous force.
    • The Ratman attempted to brace itself with its spear but was launched across the room.
    • It struck the wall and fell, coughing blood, but remained alive.

  • The injured Ratman struck by the monster was unable to escape cleanly.

    • Disengaging safely from a melee would have required most of its available actions.
    • Rather than attempt to flee, it tried to stab the monster with its spear.
    • The attack failed.

  • At the beginning of the next round, additional Ratmen reached the laboratory.

    • Three more small Ratmen climbed through the windows.
    • They crowded around the opening and increased the immediate threat of the laboratory being overwhelmed.

  • Felrick devised a way to use the monster’s poor coordination against it.

    • He used a ranged takedown maneuver with his pistol against Lady Marguerite’s monster.
    • Rather than trying to overpower the creature directly, the maneuver forced it to resist with Coordination.
    • The monster was tremendously strong but poorly coordinated.
    • Felrick succeeded at the maneuver.
    • The monster failed its Coordination test badly.
    • Felrick fired in the creature’s direction, and the monster reacted instinctively to the gunshot by flinching and crumpling down, falling prone.
    • Because Felrick was exceptionally fast at reloading his pistol, he could reload without spending an action.
    • He then turned his pistol on one of the smaller Ratmen near the window.
    • Felrick initially failed the shot and used Fortune to reroll.
    • The second result hit.
    • The Ratman had previously been kicked into the wall by the monster.
    • Felrick inflicted 15 damage.
    • The pistol ball struck the Ratman squarely in the chest.
    • It staggered backward, slipped at the window, and fell out of the tower.

  • The party began planning a coordinated use of the large overturned table.

    • Qavitrae asked whether several party members could combine their strength to shove the table.
    • It was established that multiple trained characters could assist a primary Athletics roll.
    • The strength of assisting characters would also make the combined effort substantially more effective.
    • Qavitrae decided to delay her action until Thindruk’s turn so they could push together.
    • She called Nora over to help.
    • Nora, despite her wounds, also delayed her action to participate.
    • Thindruk remained positioned to lead the effort.

  • Wanda used one of her martial litanies before continuing the fight.

    • She invoked a Litany of Hatred.
    • The litany succeeded.
    • Its effect reduced the relevant defensive thresholds of her enemies.
    • The affected Ratmen also suffered 7 Peril.
    • Wanda included Lady Marguerite’s monster among the affected enemies because the party was now planning to remove it as well.
    • Wanda then attacked another Ratman beside the window with her Morgenstern.
    • The Ratman attempted to parry, but its crude spear was poorly suited to stopping Wanda’s weapon.
    • The parry failed.
    • Wanda struck it for 16 damage.
    • The blow shattered multiple ribs.
    • The force of the Morgenstern lifted the Ratman from its feet and sent it backward.
    • It landed briefly on the window sill, arms flailing, and then toppled backward out of the tower.

  • Thindruk, Qavitrae, and Nora executed the table maneuver.

    • Lady Marguerite’s monster was still lying prone in their path.
    • Thindruk decided the immediate objective should be to push the Ratmen through the window rather than attempt to push both the Ratmen and the much heavier monster.
    • The monster was curled on the floor, making it possible for the group to lift the table high enough to move over it.
    • Thindruk led the Athletics test.
    • Qavitrae and Nora assisted.
    • Nora’s greater physical strength contributed to the push.
    • The combined assistance granted Thindruk a substantial bonus and an assisted roll.
    • Thindruk succeeded.
    • The Ratmen failed badly to resist the advancing table.
    • The three companions raised the table sufficiently to clear the prone monster, gathered momentum, and rushed it across the laboratory.
    • The cluster of Ratmen at the window turned just in time to see the heavy table bearing down on them.
    • They attempted to brace against it with their arms but were too small to stop the combined charge.
    • The table swept all three Ratmen bodily toward the window and shoved them out of the tower.
    • The Ratmen tumbled down the exterior of Castle Wittgenstein amid thunder and flashes of lightning.

  • After shoving the Ratmen out, the party looked down the side of the tower.

    • Numerous additional Ratmen were scaling the outer wall using their claws.
    • None had yet reached the window, but many more were climbing toward the laboratory.
    • Thindruk looked farther out into the courtyard.
    • In flashes of lightning, he saw more shadowy figures scurrying around below.
    • One figure stood apart from the others.
    • It carried a staff.
    • A green light glowed at the end of the staff.
    • The figure appeared to be some kind of Ratman spellcaster.
    • After the Ratmen thrown from the window struck the ground, there was a flash of green light below.
    • Green fire began spreading where they had fallen.

  • The party recognized that the laboratory would soon be attacked by another wave of Ratmen.

    • They considered bracing or otherwise obstructing the window.
    • Their immediate reprieve was temporary because the next wave was already climbing the tower.

  • Lady Marguerite’s monster got back to its feet.

    • Standing from prone consumed most of its actions.
    • It saw Felrick, whom it now appeared to associate with the frightening gunshots that had repeatedly brought it down.
    • The monster roared and began charging Felrick.
    • It could only make it partway across the laboratory before running out of actions.

  • Felrick again exploited the monster’s poor Coordination.

    • As the monster charged him, Felrick performed another ranged takedown maneuver.
    • He succeeded.
    • The monster once again failed its Coordination test.
    • Felrick fired his pistol in its direction.
    • The creature reflexively flinched at the shot and tripped over its own legs, falling prone again.
    • This time, the monster was less visibly frightened by the gunshot.
    • It immediately looked toward Felrick with an enraged expression.

  • Felrick decided to finish the monster while it was prone.

    • He aimed at the fallen creature and fired his pistol.
    • Attacking the prone monster granted additional damage.
    • Felrick’s damage dice exploded repeatedly, producing an exceptionally powerful attack.
    • The final shot inflicted 32 damage.
    • The hit struck the monster in the head.
    • While the creature was lying on the ground, Felrick caught the exposed eye visible between its fingers.
    • The pistol ball struck the monster’s head and blew out the back of its skull.
    • Lady Marguerite’s monster was killed.

  • With the immediate enemies in the laboratory defeated and the next wave still climbing, the party turned its attention to the glowing green stone.

    • Qavitrae moved to secure it.
    • The stone radiated noticeable heat even before being directly touched.
    • Qavitrae initially considered simply handling the stone herself because elves were known to be unusually resistant to mutation.
    • The group instead decided to use the tools Lady Marguerite had left in the laboratory to minimize exposure.
    • The available equipment included:
      • The suspended lead receptacle holding the stone.
      • A second lidded lead bucket mounted to a removable handle.
      • Large tongs.
      • A larger lead-lined casket capable of holding the bucket and the stone.
    • The portable bucket was designed so that its long handle could be removed once it had been placed inside the larger casket.
    • Qavitrae decided to transfer the stone while keeping it enclosed as much as possible.
    • Felrick assisted her because he was trained in Coordination.
    • The transfer succeeded.
    • During the process, the weight shifted and the bucket briefly began to tilt.
    • Felrick helped stabilize it before the stone could spill free.
    • There was a brief flash of green light in the laboratory while the stone was moved from the suspended apparatus into the portable lead bucket.
    • Qavitrae closed the lid on the bucket.
    • The bucket was placed inside the larger lead casket.
    • The handle was removed.
    • The casket was then closed, sealing the glowing stone inside.

  • With the Warpstone secured, the party prepared to abandon the laboratory.

    • They recognized that more Ratmen were still climbing the tower.
    • Rather than attempt to permanently brace the laboratory table against the window, Nora proposed dropping it out of the window lengthwise so that it would strike the Ratmen climbing below.
    • The group turned the large table and maneuvered it through the window.
    • The table was released down the exterior wall.
    • It struck the first approaching Ratman and began cartwheeling down the side of the tower.
    • It swept away approximately three or four more Ratmen before deflecting away from the tower.
    • The maneuver bought the party roughly another thirty seconds before the remaining climbers could reach the window.

  • Felrick took one final shot at the Ratman spellcaster in the courtyard.

    • He switched from his pistol to his longbow because the target was beyond pistol range.
    • The shot was difficult because of the darkness, rain, and strong wind from the storm.
    • Felrick could see well in darkness and aimed before firing.
    • He successfully hit the distant figure.
    • The Ratman spellcaster attempted to dodge.
    • Felrick forced the dodge to be rerolled.
    • The second result was worse, so the arrow struck.
    • The damage was modest, but enough to cause the distant figure to flinch and stagger.
    • Shadowy Ratmen around the spellcaster immediately grabbed it and began pulling it away into the darkness.
    • As it retreated, the spellcaster raised its staff.
    • The green stone at the end of the staff flashed.

  • Immediately after the spellcaster used its staff, the entire castle shook.

    • The party had just begun moving toward the stairs with the lead casket.
    • The shaking was severe enough to make everyone stumble.
    • A deep rumble passed through Castle Wittgenstein.

  • Before fleeing the laboratory completely, the party shut the tower shutters.

    • The shutters had been standing open and latched against the walls.
    • They were swung closed.
    • Their cross-latches were secured.
    • Wanda used pieces of the Ratmen’s crude spears to jam the shutters further.
    • The group did not expect the barrier to last long, but it provided another temporary obstacle for the Ratmen.

  • The party began carrying the lead casket containing the Warpstone down the tower.

    • The casket was heavy, approximately the size of a steamer trunk, because it contained the lead bucket and the basketball-sized stone.
    • Felrick moved ahead as a scout.
    • Others carried the casket between them.
    • The group had to move rapidly because the castle was beginning to collapse.
    • Their initial carrying tests succeeded.

  • While the group descended the spiral stairs, the shaking intensified.

    • The entire tower swayed and shuddered.
    • The party heard stone cracking around them.
    • As they reached the point where the tower reconnected with the main castle, another violent tremor struck.
    • The tower began peeling away from the rest of Castle Wittgenstein.
    • The party rushed forward.
    • The members carrying the heavy casket were moving more slowly than the others but still managed to clear the connection in time.
    • Behind them, the tower tore away from the castle.
    • Stones cascaded downward.
    • The tower smashed into the ground below.

  • The destruction of Castle Wittgenstein rapidly spread.

    • The storm outside had intensified into a maelstrom.
    • Around the temple, the ground visibly cracked.
    • The front of the temple began sinking.
    • The structure appeared to be collapsing into a growing sinkhole.
    • The party concluded that they needed to leave the castle immediately.

  • The party rushed into Lady Marguerite’s bedroom to retrieve the chest of treasure they had previously left there.

    • The gold had not been taken down to the boat with the earlier food supplies.
    • The group now split its burden between the lead casket and the chest of gold.
    • Wanda and Nora took responsibility for the treasure chest.
    • Others continued transporting the Warpstone casket.
    • Felrick remained ahead of the carrying groups and scouted the route.

  • The party descended from the upper castle toward the main level.

    • The entire structure continued to shake.
    • Dust filled the air.
    • Stones cracked and shifted.
    • The characters carrying the casket and treasure had to repeatedly make Athletics or Coordination tests to keep control of their loads.
    • Qavitrae initially failed one of these checks because her Imperiled condition reduced her effective ability.
    • She rerolled and succeeded.
    • The rest of the group also managed to keep hold of the two containers.
    • Both the lead casket and the gold chest remained intact.

  • The party chose the route back through the dungeons to the underground river dock.

    • They considered closing the secret door behind them.
    • Because of the urgency of the collapse, they ultimately decided not to waste time securing it and continued running.

  • The descent toward the dungeon grew increasingly dangerous.

    • The ground shook violently beneath the party.
    • Stone dust and debris filled the stairways.
    • Large pieces of masonry began falling.
    • The party made additional Athletics or Coordination checks while carrying the casket and treasure.
    • Several members failed, but every carried object still had at least one successful bearer keeping it under control.
    • The group therefore avoided dropping either the Warpstone casket or the treasure chest.
    • Falling masonry struck Wanda, Thindruk, and Nora.
    • Wanda took 6 points of impact.
    • Thindruk took 7.
    • Nora took 7.
    • Their armor and protection prevented the falling stone from causing meaningful wounds.
    • Some of them briefly lost their grip on a corner of what they were carrying but recovered before either container could fall.

  • In the dungeon level, the party encountered the two surviving castle soldiers they had earlier put to work carrying food toward the boat.

    • The two men appeared uncertain where to go and what to do amid the collapse.
    • A barrel of food, possibly salted fish, had been left beside them.
    • The party ordered them to continue toward the dock.
    • One immediately ran toward the stairs.
    • The other helped support the chest of gold.
    • Their assistance allowed the party to continue downward despite the increasing instability.

  • The group made the final descent to Castle Wittgenstein’s underground river dock.

    • More debris fell around them.
    • The party continued carrying the lead casket, treasure, and what supplies they could save.
    • The last descent was slow and clumsy, but the combined effort prevented either critical container from being dropped.

  • Felrick reached the river dock ahead of the others.

    • Because he was trained as a pilot, he immediately began preparing the party’s riverboat for departure.
    • Aubrey Hennig was already at the dock and had begun readying the boat herself.
    • The gangplank was still out.
    • The boat had been almost completely untied, with only the final line remaining.
    • Aubrey saw the party coming and shouted for them to run.

  • The characters carrying the treasure and Warpstone reached the boat.

    • The lead casket was brought aboard and moved below decks for safety.
    • The chest of gold was also loaded.
    • The rescued soldiers and Aubrey were directed toward the oars.
    • Wanda used her Leadership to organize the rowing effort.
    • She began calling a coordinated stroke and ordering everyone to row together.
    • Thindruk formally declared that, in recognition of their service to Viscount Steelbone and the Empire, the two castle soldiers were granted clemency for their crimes and safe passage aboard the vessel.
    • He immediately followed the declaration by ordering them to work.
    • The soldiers accepted the orders and helped row.

  • Felrick took control of the boat as pilot.

    • The underground exit required navigating a narrow hook or bend before reaching the main river.
    • Qavitrae was trained in Pilot and assisted him after helping move the casket below.
    • The first attempt was difficult because the cave itself was collapsing.
    • Felrick failed the challenging Pilot test.
    • Large rocks began crashing into the water and onto the boat.
    • Wood splintered under the falling debris.
    • The vessel nevertheless made it out into the open river.
    • It remained afloat but sustained meaningful damage.

  • Once the boat reached the river, Castle Wittgenstein’s destruction became fully visible.

    • The green moon silhouetted the castle against the storm.
    • The entire spire was collapsing toward the River Reik.
    • Green plumes of flame blasted from cracks in the collapsing structure.
    • The bridge between the watchtower and Inner Bailey was torn apart and exploded into splinters.
    • The Inner Bailey was collapsing into the river.
    • The Outer Bailey, which stood farther back on the riverbank and cliff, appeared less affected.

  • Wanda continued directing the rowers.

    • She called out a synchronized rhythm and urged everyone to increase speed.
    • Her Leadership check succeeded easily.
    • The boat gained speed as the oarsmen began pulling together.
    • This gave Felrick an easier chance to maneuver away from the falling castle.

  • Felrick attempted a second Pilot check in the open river.

    • Qavitrae continued assisting him.
    • Wanda’s successful organization of the rowers provided an additional advantage.
    • Despite all of the assistance, Felrick failed the Pilot test.

  • A huge section of Castle Wittgenstein crashed into the river beside the boat.

    • The impact generated a massive wave.
    • The boat was thrown sideways and nearly capsized.
    • Everyone on deck had to make a Coordination test to remain aboard.
    • Qavitrae critically succeeded.
    • Felrick and Wanda both failed.

  • Qavitrae used her exceptional footing to save Felrick.

    • The boat was tilted severely beneath her, but she remained standing with elven grace.
    • Felrick began sliding toward the river.
    • Qavitrae grabbed him before he could go over the rail.
    • Felrick remained aboard.

  • Wanda was not as fortunate.

    • She had been concentrating on shouting the rowing cadence and had nothing secure to grab.
    • The violent wave threw her completely over the side.
    • The boat continued rapidly away from her on the wave, making an immediate return to the vessel impossible.

  • Wanda began swimming for shore.

    • She was still wearing armor.
    • The armor made the Athletics test to swim significantly more difficult.
    • Despite the difficulty, Wanda succeeded.
    • She kicked toward the nearest bank with the strength remaining in her limbs.
    • The shore proved closer than she initially feared.
    • Wanda reached land, dragged herself out of the river, and collapsed onto her back, breathing heavily.
    • She was clear of the immediate destruction of Castle Wittgenstein but alone on the riverbank.

  • Felrick searched for Wanda from the damaged riverboat.

    • His superior vision allowed him to scan the dark river and shoreline.
    • At first, the party feared that Wanda might have gone under.
    • Felrick eventually spotted her on the bank.
    • The party confirmed that Wanda had survived her second involuntary trip into the river.

  • As the party drifted downstream, they assessed what remained of Castle Wittgenstein.

    • The entire spire had collapsed.
    • A large mound of rubble remained, but the former towering rock and castle structure was drastically reduced.
    • The Inner Bailey was effectively destroyed.
    • The Outer Bailey had not obviously collapsed with it.
    • The party did not know what had happened to the allies and rebels who had remained in the Outer Bailey.
    • They also did not know what had happened to the creatures, prisoners, or other horrors still inside unexplored portions of the castle.

  • The damaged riverboat, the Fraulein, remained navigable.

    • It was meaningfully damaged by the falling stone and violent waves.
    • The party expected reduced speed and possible penalties to future Pilot checks until repairs could be completed.
    • The vessel was still seaworthy enough to continue downriver.
    • The storm began to abate.
    • The wind diminished.
    • Morrslieb’s green light faded behind the clouds.

  • The party decided first to recover Wanda from the shore.

    • Afterward, they considered where to go.
    • Wittgendorf was only a few miles downstream and could provide a place to stop, inspect the damage, and make emergency repairs.
    • The party also remembered that the second riverboat they had previously captured had been sent back toward Wittgendorf.

  • The group debated whether returning to Wittgendorf was desirable.

    • Thindruk questioned whether the village could offer meaningful supplies or repair facilities.
    • There was also uncertainty over the fate of the party’s allies in the Outer Bailey.
    • The group did not know whether the Ratmen had overrun them.
    • The Ratmen may have entered the castle through underground tunnels, but the party could not confirm exactly where they had come from.
    • The group remembered discovering a tunnel in the dungeons that seemed consistent with a Ratman passage but had never explored it.
    • They ultimately decided that making for Wittgendorf was still useful because the Fraulein needed to be inspected as soon as possible.

  • The party also considered Nora’s increasingly serious condition.

    • Nora had been stabbed in the throat twice during the fighting in Castle Wittgenstein.
    • She was still badly wounded and had difficulty speaking.
    • The group recognized that she needed proper medical attention.
    • They expected the larger city of Kemperbad to have physicians or a temple of Shallya capable of treating her.

  • The party reached Wittgendorf under cover of night.

    • The second captured riverboat was still there.
    • It was in poor condition and riding low in the water.
    • The party moved it closer to shore so that it would be easier to recover if it sank.
    • The Fraulein was then examined more carefully.

  • The most obvious damage to the Fraulein was a hole in the hull.

    • The damaged area was somewhat above the normal waterline.
    • As the boat bobbed, however, water repeatedly entered through the breach.
    • The vessel was therefore taking on water.
    • The damage was not causing immediate sinking, but it could not safely be ignored.
    • Proper repair would require a real boatwright who could remove damaged planks and shape new timber to fit.
    • Wittgendorf lacked facilities large enough to properly repair a vessel of the Fraulein’s size.

  • The party determined that they could make a temporary field repair.

    • Spare boards, tar, pitch, and similar material could be used to patch the hole.
    • The result would not be perfectly watertight.
    • It could, however, substantially reduce the amount of incoming water.
    • Kemperbad was roughly a day to a day and a half away by river.
    • The party believed the Fraulein could probably make that journey if patched, although the trip would still involve some risk.

  • The food previously brought down from Castle Wittgenstein was used to occupy the starving people around Wittgendorf’s docks.

    • Several barrels of supplies had successfully reached the boat before the castle collapsed.
    • The amount was not sufficient to feed the entire village, but it could feed many of the impoverished people around the docks.
    • The party rolled out a barrel of salted or pickled fish.
    • The starving villagers crowded around it, grabbing food and shoving one another aside.
    • This gave the party room to assess the damaged vessel without immediately being mobbed.

  • The two former castle soldiers were released at Wittgendorf.

    • They were not wearing their Wittgenstein armor because the party had originally found them asleep in their garrison and immediately put them to work without allowing them to fully equip themselves.
    • Their exposed skin was pocked, gray, unhealthy-looking, and carried a noticeable smell of decay.
    • During the journey they had apparently concluded that the adventurers themselves had destroyed Castle Wittgenstein.
    • The party did not correct that assumption.
    • The soldiers were given food and a gold coin each.
    • They left the boat quickly and disappeared into the night.

  • The party attempted to obtain information about the surviving portion of Castle Wittgenstein.

    • The people at the dock had seen the castle fall during the storm.
    • They insisted that Castle Wittgenstein was gone.
    • The party explained that only part of the complex had collapsed and wanted to know who, if anyone, currently held the surviving Outer Bailey.
    • Initially, the starving villagers were unwilling to leave the food barrel simply for the promise of more food later.

  • Thindruk offered silver for reliable information.

    • He displayed several silver coins and asked whether anyone healthy enough would travel to the castle and return with news.
    • The strongest-looking man and woman among the villagers came forward.
    • They agreed to go.
    • Thindruk instructed them to determine who currently controlled what remained of Castle Wittgenstein.
    • He promised additional silver if they returned before dawn.
    • They departed to investigate.

  • With the immediate situation stabilized, the party discussed its next destination.

    • Kemperbad offered the nearest realistic chance for proper repairs to the Fraulein.
    • It also offered access to a temple of Shallya and other medical care for Nora.
    • The group remained concerned about bringing a large Warpstone into a city that had previously treated them favorably.
    • Nevertheless, they considered Kemperbad the practical next stop.
    • Beyond Kemperbad, the party increasingly believed that Middenheim should become a major destination.
    • They had encountered repeated clues and events pointing toward Middenheim.
    • The party therefore discussed continuing northward after dealing with their immediate problems rather than returning south toward Nuln.

  • The party chose not to depart Wittgendorf immediately.

    • They intended to patch the Fraulein and spend the night there.
    • They also wanted to give the two scouts time to return with news from the surviving portions of Castle Wittgenstein before the party left for Kemperbad.

  • At the conclusion of the adventure in Castle Wittgenstein, everyone made a corruption check.

    • The party had experienced sustained exposure to Chaos during its time in the castle.
    • Their exposure included:
      • Brief proximity to the Warpstone.
      • Daemonic encounters.
      • Sorcery.
      • The intense green influence of Morrslieb during the storm.
    • Because the party had handled the Warpstone using the available lead equipment rather than directly exposing themselves to it, their contact with it was considered relatively minimal.
    • The final corruption test was a standard Toughness check.
    • Failure caused the character to gain 2 Corruption.

  • Felrick succeeded on his corruption check and gained no additional Corruption.

  • Wanda succeeded on her corruption check and gained no additional Corruption.

    • She already had existing marks of Corruption and avoided adding two more.

  • Thindruk succeeded on his corruption check and gained no additional Corruption.

  • Qavitrae failed her corruption check and gained 2 Corruption.

    • Her elven resistance to mutation did not prevent the immediate gain of Corruption.
    • If that Corruption eventually produces a disorder, her elven nature makes a physical mutation less likely than other forms of corruption.

  • Nora also failed the corruption check and gained 2 Corruption.

  • The session ended with the party having survived and effectively completed its assault on Castle Wittgenstein.

    • Lady Marguerite was dead.
    • The Stormvermin and Lady Marguerite’s experimental monster were dead.
    • Numerous Ratmen had been killed, shot, shoved, or knocked from the tower.
    • The Inner Bailey and the enormous rock spire supporting it had collapsed into the River Reik.
    • The fate of the surviving Outer Bailey and the party’s allies there remained unknown.
    • The party escaped with the chest of gold.
    • They also escaped with the large Warpstone sealed inside a lead bucket and lead-lined casket.
    • The Fraulein survived but required repairs.
    • Wanda survived being thrown overboard.
    • Nora remained badly wounded and in need of medical treatment.
    • The party intended to obtain information about the survivors at Castle Wittgenstein, patch the Fraulein, and then travel toward Kemperbad.