Monday Notes

## Session 1 (24 Erntezeit, 2476)

* wagon to Blackcliff Academy
* stripped naked in crowded outdoor pen, branded
* one night no sitting, coincidentally chaos moon (green)
* hunger games for an unspecified amount of time
* our party + Helmut Kupernick (npc) teamed up and secured a corner of the pen with 1 bag of bread and sock batons
* recruitment of the living wall of 50
* influenza rips through the pen
* Hunger games ends early at around the 3 day mark at the insistence of the Blackcliff physician
* 300 of the original 500 children survived week 1 hazing
* Theoderic appointed leader of party

## Session 2 (20 Jahrdrung, 2477)

* 6 months later
* yearling tried to escape, everyone on high alert trying to search for him
* tasked by Centurion Valmir Schwarzhauer (nicer than other Centurions, lets us ask questions) to help search catacombs for escapee
* Aver points out old-ish tracks, group tries to follow but other people have already searched in that direction
* escapee is caught and publicly whipped to death by Commandant while all students are expected to cheer
* mission on horsies through a valley
* greenskin ambush
* help out at first aid tent
* suspicious nun
* Sven bribes doctor
* Body in well
* 1 foot tall chaos frog attack
* check nun tent, turns out nun is an evil witch
* RIP Helmut
* Sven in the stockades while others prevent him from getting stoned to death
* Helmut bag of bones

## Session 3 (3 Pflugzeit, 2477)

* Takes place 3 weeks later
* Before the session:
	+ The students have been in a camp in the Border Princess where Skirmishes have increased
	+ Tension has been Ratcheting up
	+ For the students it has been quiet, with lots of training/running errands
* Today:
	+ Valmir is not alone, he is surrounded by 4 Nightstalkers dressed in full military gear
		- Nightstalkers
			* Trained in Scouting and Sabotage
	+ Our mission is to go to an enemy Armory (located in an abandoned city) and destroy some of their supplies
* On the Mission:
	+ The Armory
		- In an abandoned city up against a mountain
		- Corpses hanging in the entrance
	+ Aver and Theo go to the gate to sneakily investigate and gather some useful to share with Valmir and the rest of the group
	+ We attack and win the battle despite losing some nightstalkers to a 12 ft troll
	+ We free some hostages

## Session 4 (5 Pflugzeit, 2477)

* Takes place at The Border Princes during a huge battle against the Greenskins
* Before the battle:
	+ The group starts with taking their pikes to toward the front line and start lining up in the staging area
	+ A group of 20 dwarves glance at the young children in bewilderment and ask what we are doing
	+ After being informed of the groups' intentions to fight in the front lines the dwarves (lead by Sven Shieldbreaker) tell the young fighters to join them, as they become the dwarves' comrades and fight the Greenskins together.
	+ Dwarves give the children a crossbow to attack with after initially giving them two-handled hammer that they were unable to wield.
* During the battle:
	+ Friebald kills an orc
	+ Theo critically injures a Greenskin that Rafael and Aver finish off
	+ Rafael almost gets critically wounded by making some mistakes in battle
	+ Dwarves end up finishing off lots of Greenskins, orcs, and giants
	+ Eventually a sound screams from the armies camps and High Elves join the fight which cause the remaining greenskins to flee
	+ Rafael and Sven try to make an ally with a Greenskin
* After the battle:
	+ Aver gets a coin minted by Sven Shieldbreaker that when presented to a dwarf will always let the group find him
	+ Commandant is found talking to a majestic elf guy (Eltharion) and we are told to find Valmir
	+ Friebald informs Valmir of Rafael and Sven's attempt to ally with the greenskin
	+ Valmir brings Rafael and Sven to Matias and Rafael gets marked as an enemy of the empire and gets his nose sliced off
	+ Sven gets branded in the shape of a hammer on his forehead that says dangerous (eventually gets reversed by a singing elf [Whit] outside of Valmir's tent)
	+ Rafael/Sven's relationship becomes very strained

## Session 5: Sigmartag (18 Sigmarzeit, 2477)

* Takes place at Altdorf, Reikland in Summer, 1 month after the previous session
* Before today:
	+ High elves went on a genocide led by Eltharion, who was performing his divine mandate, and killed the Greenskin boss which subsequently caused the Greenskin Wa to end
	+ After the genocide, the majority of the forces have returned
	+ The Commandant decided a reward for the students after their hard fought battle, so the students started a journey to the capital where the students will arrive on Sigmartag celebration
		- Sigmartag is celebrated the most in the capital
		- Sigmartag is the celebration of Sigmar the first Emperor/God
* Each one of the students (party members) get 3 Endeavors while going on the journey to Altdorf
		- A very developed city
		- City is in full celebration with not just people of the empire; high elves, dwarves, halflings, bretonnians, kislevites, soldiers from all other nations are celebrating
	+ Instead of being under Valmir during our time, we get to go under the watch of Lord Gunther Aukrugermann (Friebald's father) with the exception of Rafael who stays with the Commandant due to bad behavior
	+ Gunther brings us to eat sausages made from the halflings, which if you eat all of in one sitting you get good luck
	+ The party then goes to the Temple of Shalia (Goddess of Mercy) where Gunther leads a prayer
	+ After the temple, the party goes to the opera house:
		- Sven gets drunk and starts vomiting
		- Sven gets challenge to a duel, but Gunther takes the kids away to avoid the duel
	+ Gunther than asks Friebald and the rest of the party if they want to join in the Grand Melee (a tournament between teams volunteering contestants)
	+ To prepare for the Grand Melee:
		- Gunther takes us to the armory to get weapons, where everyone gets chain mail shirts
		- The party also get taken to the Whit for some custom weapons

## Session 6: The Grand Melee (19 Sigmarzeit, 2477)

* Takes place Altdorf, Reikland in Summer, one day after the previous session
* Before the fight:
	+ Rafael arrives at Gunther's door w/ the Commandant
	+ Rafael arrives after being the Commandant's servant with bruises all over his body
	+ After filling in Rafael with what the rest of the party did, Gunther takes the party to a nice restaurant down the street from his house
		- Restuarant has quite a large menu, where Gunther (after realizing a majority of the party can not read) says he will have Valmir teach everyone to read
* Preparation for the fight:
	+ 5 fighters maximum for the starting groups
	+ 3 teams (1 for each participating nation)
		- 10 Grail Knights are fighting (from Britonia)
		- 100+ Kislevites
		- 100+ fighters for the Empire
	+ Point deduction incurred per team member knocked out
	+ Sword guards are used to dull them to prevent deaths during the fights
* During the fight:
	+ Party firsts takes down the Grail Knights
	+ The ice witch blows itself up
	+ Commandant joins the fight
	+ We won our sector, but lost the fight
	+ Kislev beats the Empire
	+ Rafael proves himself to be a great fighter
* After the fight:
	+ Commandant talking to Kislev man happily
	+ Beat man (one that the party took down the fight) tells the party they fought dishonorably
	+ Commandant approaches the party to discuss:
		- Aver gets offered to specialize in Archery training
		- Rafael gets a training regime of 5 lashes everyday for training to reinforce some strength
		- Commandant asks Sven to not adopt Britannia customs and continue to bath
		- Calls Theo a good leader and Friebald a good soldier and for us to continue to hone those skills.

## Session 7: The Great Vortex (1 Sommerzeit, 2479)

* Takes place in Summer, 2 Years Later
* After the Grand Melee:
	+ Spend some more time in Altdorf vacationing with Gunther
	+ Head back to Blackcliff for a few years of training, where ultimately, nothing super interesting happens
* The session:
* The party wakes up a 6 AM to the drum towers going off
	+ Find ourselves in our sleeping quarters
		- Sleeping quarters
			* Glorified cells that are locked all night
			* Year 2-4 Housing
			* Wooden bed, hay mattress, one pillow
			* 2 rooms
				+ One with Aver, Theo, Friebald
				+ One with Sven, Rafael
	+ Today, the party wakes up and gets escorted to a large common room with a vat of water for bathing
	+ After bathing the Commandant asks for volunteers for a dangerous mission, which the party elects to volunteer for
		- If students chose against volunteering they would go to a separate mission where they would get shelled by artillery.
		- Discover what is happening to traders and merchants that have disappeared along a trade route in the Empire.
		- The Empire is sending children as decoys to gather information
			* During the explanation the students learn from Valmir that all students a given a poison in their veins that can get activated by a command word. This poison wares off 2 years after graduation.
		- The party gets a map and are instructed to go through Averland and detour through the Wut Pass (150 mile journey)
		- Valmir gives us a sack of brass coins.
	+ Execution:
		- Successfully pass through Forrest and meet Wood Elves, we eventually relay this information to Valmir/Commandant
* Other notable events:
	+ On Marcus's objective, he is found to have disappeared from his party in which the Commandant activates the poison.

## Session 8: The Great Beyond (29 Kaldezeit, 2480)

* Session occurs in Blackcliff, Averland in Early Winter, 1 Year and 6 months later
* Time since:
	+ Marcus has disappeared and is pronounced dead although some student believe he is alive
	+ We have continued through training, preparing for our five-year
	+ Our squad has risen up rapidly in the academy compared to others
	+ Today is the day we ship out from Blackcliff for 4 years
* Today:
	+ Sven wakes up sick
	+ Valmir unlocks our doors and informs us of a few things
		- We have a month period (4 Years from now until 4 Years and 1 month from now) to return
		- If the party is to make it to Austermark to ask for the mayor for the Shorttower
	+ The party heads to the staging arc with the commandant
		- She informs the students that many of them will not survive and that we can only rely on our fellow squad members.
		- Shortly before we arrive to our destination we will be stripped of our clothes and given a sedative.
	+ We will travel in a cart with nice amenities (with the exception of the fact that we have no windows to prevent us from seeing where we are going)
	+ 1 to 2 months of travel, presumably North due to snowfall
* After the journey:
	+ The party wakes up in a vast empty wilderness surrounded by jagged rocks
		- The party can hear a scream from one of the nearby caves, where we can see a bluish colored creature leaving the cave (presumably a troll variant who traditionally inhabit the chaos waste, badlands, and troll country)
	+ The party eventually decides to make it our of the ravine and head toward trees/a vast tundra
	+ In the tundra:
		- Attack a goat and kill one
	+ Eventually the party make it to the nearby forest
		- In the forest, the party makes a fire and everyone starts collecting/working on the camp
			* Collect two goods
				+ Spiderleaf: Good for bandages to stop bleeding
				+ Tarrabeth: Helps a person heal from a wound in small doses, in large doses is a tranquilizer used to heal
		- During the gathering time, Rafael gets found by Ungols (nomatic group of Kislev) and they eventually track him back to our trap and meet us
		- After a discussion with the Ungols, we have decided to join them for 8 months to fight to eventually end in Kislev.

## Session 9: Family Ties (21 Ulriczeit, 2480)

* Session occurs in Troll Country, Kislev in Winter, 2 Weeks later
* Since the last session:
	+ Travelling with Nomad
		- Typical Process: setup Camp for 2-3 days, travel for 30-40 miles, repeat
		- The party is getting trained in language, archery, riding, etc.
* Today:
	+ The group has been patrolling with the 5 students and 2 others (roaming the Troll Country on Horseback)
	+ The two other men:
		- Demitri and Sergei
	+ Patrolling for any sign of chaos (typically ambushed) as well as trolls (per Sergei)
	+ Sergei tells the party to approach a nearby forest as a group to scout
* Arriving to the forest:
	+ The scenery is very beautiful with picturesque views
	+ Theo spots an Elk in the wood that was looking straight at him, to which Theo sees the elk raise a human hand to the mouth and blow a horn which starts about 6 or 7 other horns also joining in
		- Drums start to bang around the party
		- The party starts to hear strange chanting in the forest
			* "Blood for the blood god"
	+ The party starts running away leaving Sergei and Demitri behind to defend
* Running away from the forest:
	+ Wolves initial follow but the party successful outruns the wolves, but eventually 4 men on horseback catch up
	+ After some skirmishing the party successfully defeats the 4 men (killing 2)
	+ Find a young girl in the sack who was bound to the enemies horse
		- She faints at the sight of Rafael
	+ Before riding back to the larger camp we see a figure in all black in the distance whose horse has red glowing hooves
* Back at camp:
	+ Tell Grandma what happened, who evaluates the axe that Rafael stole from one of the men and claim that it was formed in the name of the blood god
	+ Refers to the black armor warriors as champions/chosen
	+ Sven and Rafael begin to interrogate the girl (Kat)
		- She claims the beast men slayed everyone in her village except her
		- She was from a small village in a border town between Brittonia and the Empire
		- "Justine" was said to her before she was kidnapped and put in the sack
	+ Grandma initiates that we ride away from the attackers
* Fleeing away:
	+ We ride throughout the night, setup a quick camp for a few hours, and then start riding again
	+ We find Demetri wandering in the open who is still alive
		- Demetri was going to give a message
			* "Give us the girl and we will not hurt you"
			* Will attack in 3 days time on Morsleb, when the chaos will attack
				+ The champion who said she will attack looks just like Kat
* We arrive to Fort Zavastra where Gustav is and claims that we should start preparing to lead the resistance

## Session 10: Skulls to the Skull Throne (33 Vorhexen, 2480)

* Session occurs in Fort Zavostra, Kislev in Winter, 2 days later
* Since the last session:
	+ Scouts have seen war hoard slowly approaching
	+ Rest of the members have been preparing in the Fort, with a group effort with women and children also pitching in
	+ People have been apprehensive towards Kat except for the Sisters of Coven
	+ Kat has been constantly staring at her dagger contimplating what to do with it
* Today:
	+ The party is reminded of the saying "the Champion cannot be killed in combat"
	+ Gustav has dismissed the prophecy of the lady of the lake
	+ The moon empowers the Chaos forces during Morsleb and the Fort anticipates being attacked at night
	+ Friebald removes the floorboards in houses to protect Kat in case something were to happen and they need to hide
* Upon hearing the horns:
	+ Peasants in the fields start heading back into the gates
	+ Prepare for the swarm of enemies to arrive within 2 hours time
	+ Gustav commands everyone to get on the walls (the party joins in)
* On the walls:
	+ Can hear rumbling in the forest
	+ Smells like blood and unwashed animal furs
	+ Sun starts setting and the moon is full & green
	+ Arrows are starting to fire from the distance (to gauge distance)
	+ Sven sees a vision of Sergei where Justine bisects him right down the middle over an alter and red beast emerge from his body
	+ Cannons and beast-man emerge and start firing and doing major damage on the walls.,
	+ The party attempts to retreat off of the walls and out of the fort
* Attempting to retreat:
	+ Huge battle undergoes and we are stalked down by Justine and other enemies
	+ Theoderic does significant damage to Justine, but is wounded and requires surgery
	+ Sven picks up the sword of Justine and kills her
	+ Lots of other fighting occurs and we are left with just about 20 men still standing
* After the Battle:
	+ Sven is left potentially corrupted and the party is ordered to execute Sven
	+ Gustav takes Justine's sword to be destroyed by the ice witches
	+ Sven and Rafael leave for Sven to pursue the vision he saw of the Lady of the Lake
	+ Gustav informs Theo, Friebald, and Aver to seek the Duke of Prague and hands us a sealed note to deliver upon arrival

## Session 11: The Cursed City (4 Nachexen, 2481)

* Session occurs in Praag, Kislev in Winter, 3 days later
* Since the last session:
	+ Theo, Aver, Kat, and Friebald have been riding for 2 days toward Praag
		- Huge walled bastion with a ton of cannons and battlement on the walls
		- 10,000 people likely live here
		- Inside the 2nd set of walls is a large palace on a hill
		- Praag is the northern bastion of Kislev
		- Screaming faces carved into the rock where it looks as if people were fused to create the walls
	+ After discussion with the guards; Theo, Aver, Kat, and Friebald enter the city
	+ Sven and Rafael approach behind the rest of the party but get shot out due to being cursed
	+ Sven and Rafael eventually start dancing for the guards before being chained and taken to the Church of Ulrich in their shackles
* At the City:
	+ Theo goes to the Church of Shalia to get treatment on his wounded leg
	+ Sven and Rafael get permission to go to Church of Shalia first
	+ One of the sisters prays before Theo's wound and leg immediately feels better but is told he should rest before doing activity lest he risk the chance of getting re-injured
	+ Sven stumbles into the Church and dodges out of the way of a slap from a sister
	+ Sven approaches someone (Wit the Elf) who claims she knowns of the Valnir's Bane he has been speaking of
	+ Wit finishes healing Theo's leg
	+ Friebald informs Wit of the sword and Sven
	+ Wit Tells Sven that he will die in 3 months time
	+ She tells the party to meet for her army of fighters at the White Boar Inn to embark on the journey for Valnir's Bane
	+ Before going to the White Boar Inn the party detours to The Palace to speak with the Duke
* At the Palace:
	+ Duke sounds rude from previous conversations overheard
	+ Duke (Ivan) is a relatively young man found pacing in the empty froyer
	+ Another young man is standing next to the Duke
	+ The other man approaches the party and requests that we feed him information on our journey for Valnir's Bane
		- Seems like this man is very cunning
		- Hands us 15 ducats
			* A peasants salary over 5 years
* Arrive at the White Boar Inn:
	+ The party eventually makes it to the White Boar Inn
	+ Notice someone was spying on us, but they evade
	+ Find Sven the Dwarf who agrees to go on the journey with us
	+ Head to the boat and start leaving