Session 25

In the light of the rising sun the group watch the castle fall into the river below. Ava, Seigward and Otto, along with some resistance members carry the wounded into the Outer Bailey. The resistance have managed to capture the barracks and hung all the remaining guards in a make shift gallows. Sigrid gives a brief prayer to Rhya but Herbert and Seigbert are out for the count. She finds a resistance member who can help Seigward with his request to draw Etelkas head, a young lad named Kaspar van Lunen. Seigward organises the burial of Dumpling and Renate with Hilda. She's over seeing the burial of resistance fighters outside the castle walls and the burning of the other corpses. The group return to their barge to find the mast damaged when the water rushed in due to the collapsing castle. They get a few hours rest as they morning turns into day and Seigbert and Herbert finally wake.

Kaspar approaches the group while they're having breakfast with some resistance members in the guard tower. He's finished the drawings and receives compliments from Seigward. Ava heads into town to find something to hold Etelkas head in. Approaching Jean Rousseauxs home she finds his servant weeping on the floor. Kurt tells ava his master fled once he seen the castle collapse and Ava admits she's responsible for that. Seeing red Kurt charges her but with one magical blast and a quick strike with her pole she knocks out the manservant. Entering Rousseauxs she finds he's hastily grab what he could before fleeing. She pokes around, reading notes from him to Lady Margritte, taking his diploma and found a cellar. Inside is a corpse missing limbs and various vials with some parchment. As Ava reads the parchment the corpse reanimates with tentacles sprout from its missing arms. She dashes back upstairs, closing the cellar door and setting the house on fire. Walking back through the muddy streets of WIttgendorf, silhouetted by the burning house she left behind.

Seigward challenges Hilda to a duel and despite changing circumstances she bests him every time, the last particularly humiliating as Seigward charges forward and she just trips him. The congratulate each other before saying some word to the dead. Herbert approaches the edge of the guard tower and looks down upon the ruins below. He pours out a drink and gives a eulogy to Erik. Sigrid approaches the group to request they pick up supplies from Nuln. She hands them 4 gold and asks, whatever they can get would be appreciated. She also asks if Kaspar can go with them to oversee the goods they need. Explaining he can cook Seigward agrees to allow him on the barge on the condition he cleans up after his dog.

The next morning the group say their farewells and set out for Nuln. After a good days fishing they set down on the river bank before reaching Grissenwald the following day. There they find the humans are even less fond of the dwarves than before and the dwarves plan to destroy Etelkas home and rebuild on top of it. They're approaching the town council the next day to offer their plans and go about this legally. To help them the group give them grain in exchange for some spare timbre. Gorim Greathammer gives the group a barrel of malt as thanks for killing Etelka. Seigward discovers the witchhunter, Alberich, has left for Nuln two days past with two prisoners. The group depart in the morning, electing not to get involved with the dwarves building plans and set out for Nuln. After passing some small villages they set their eyes on the jewel of the Empire.

Setting down on the north side, Seigward convinces a drunk dock worker they have negative equity and as such the guard gives him two pence. While the rest of the group guard the barge, Seigward heads to the religious district while Seigbert heads to the engineering school with Otto. Inside the extravagant university grounds Seigward and Otto wait for a lecture to finish. A professor in a wheelchair is giving a lesson on attaching a large device to the back of a wagon and instructs on the the students to pull the reins. Getting confused the student falls from the chariot and the horse runs amok with the device on the back now active. It's a large serious of metal tubes that are now firing off randomly into the courtyard and destroying everything. As the students scatter the professor attempts to stop the contraption from firing. Siegbert rushes in and calms the animal where the professor shuts off the device. Thanking Seigbert he introduces himself as Willibald Himmelfarb, a lecturer here at the university. He scolds the students and sets them on clean up while offering Siegbert a proper reward. They travel the long corridors of the university before reaching his office. Paying Siegbert for Otto he informs Otto spend some time working off his debt. As thanks for earlier he offers Siegbert to join him tonight in The Jewl for a pub quiz.