Iron Kingdoms Roleplay - Session Sixteen (Part One)

For those of you who haven't been keeping up you can find earlier sessions and background material in here. The stats of the player characters can be found here should you be interested and the rest of the 'Brotherhood of the Rail' mercenary companies NPC's backgrounds can be found here.

This weeks attendees would be Lieutenant Rafaldo Scorgiani (Steve's character), Martin's Priestess and 'Spiritual Advisor' Danika Jansen, Phil's 'Gunmage' Christophe Mayeux, Andrews Pygmy Troll character Toborg Lugosh and my Ogrun 'Bosh' Skullsplitter. Captain Sebastian LaCroix (Toms character) will be becoming an NPC for a bit as Tom is GMing for the next few sessions.

Editors Note - Phil's character isn't with us at the start of the mission and is introduced at an appropriate point early on...just so you don't think I'm ignoring him at the start...

Note - Tom has sent me his notes so I've copied them out to include in this write up so they'll obviously be in a 'reading to the group' style. This'll save me a lot of time trying to remember everything as he said it during the session and hopefully wont effect your reading enjoyment too much bouncing between the two styles of writing.

Mission Sixteen - 'Hunters and Hunted'
Part One - 'Hunters...'
After the third disastrous encounter resulting from Llaelese resistance's 'intelligence' Sebastian has vowed to find out once and for all what's going wrong...

Introduction
Upon returning to Merwyn Sebastian is in a rage, barking orders to house the POW’s, get the “cargo” to the train and for the officers to come with him. By a roundabout route and ensuring you aren't followed Sebastian brings you to a small nondescript bar.

Pausing only to re-order his clothes and light a cheroot, Sebastian walks in.

Having come direct from their encounter outside the city gates the Brotherhood officers are equipped only with what items they had with them and both Danika and Bosh are covered in blood with Bosh looking very much like some kind of insane butcher. All are in significantly less than their best of moods...

The bar is well lit and looks clean, the few patrons are sat spread around the area in quiet conversation or engrossed in reading. The fare on offer appears to favour the Llaelesian preference for complex decadent flavours. Sebastian is undergoing hushed conversation with the bartender. He turns and nods at corner table, where a waiter hastily drags over a suitable Ogrun sized crate for use as a stool. A round of drinks is ordered, but uncharacteristically Sebastian's drink remains untouched.

The fact that no-one in the establishment makes any comment on the fact that the two armoured members of the party are covered in blood and viscera indicates that the location is used to unorthodox visitors...

Act One - 'A Reckoning'
As expected both Bosh and Danika favour a confrontation with Gregor and his fellow resistance operatives with Rafaldo being the only vague voice of reason though even he seems open to a...direct...approach if answers are not forthcoming. Tuborg who had seemingly invited himself along wisely keeps quiet as he's not exactly in his Captain's good books at the moment and has no desire to exasperate the situation. Sebastian himself seems content to let his officers debate amongst themselves and other than keeping a constant flow of alcohol to the table has only minimal input...it's more than likely that he has already decided upon a course of action and is simply listening to the others in order to work out how best to push them into a set of actions that he'd already decided upon....

A few minutes pass before you are joined by a hooded figure. "La Croix this is most unorthodox, I assume you have good reason for this?" Sebastian downs his previously untouched drink in one then turns to the hooded figure "Not here Gregor, I think we’d like the private room." Gregor leads you through to a backroom, then after some adjusting through a hidden back in a wardrobe to a well lit cellar.

The stairway downwards is obviously designed for those of human scale and it is with some discomfort that 'Bosh' scrapes his Ogrun frame down the narrow gap. This does nothing for his mood...

The air is thick with cheroot smoke and the table is strewn with maps and scribbled notes. A number of resistance members are pouring through the myriad pieces of paper with the only exits appearing to be the door you have entered through and a small interior door on the opposite side of the room.
Gregor secures the entrance, "Welcome to the heart of the resistance in occupied Lla…" Sebastian slaps the resistance officer "It is more like a den of snakes" The guns of the resistance member snap up to focus on the Captain. 

It is with some effort that Bosh resists the impulse to kill Gregor on the spot instead awaiting to see what his Captain has in mind.  Christophe who is working in the rear room of the basement hears a commotion in the next room. Unsure of what's going on he decides to wait a few moments before doing something rash. Though loyal to the resistance he hasn't survived as long as he has by rushing impulsively into the unknown.

Editors Note - 'Bosh' just scraped a pass on his Willpower test. I can hardly complain as I think I started the 'pass a WP test or your character does something stupid' thing when I was GMing...

Sebastian with the occasional pertinent input from one of his officers begins to lay out the events of the last few days. He points out the many instances of failed intelligence, conveniently timed ambushes, out of character instances of Khadoran cooperation and helpfulness allowing the Brotherhood and resistance operatives to easily reach locations that they are then assaulted at and extrapolates the common factor in all these events as being Gregor. Several of the resistance Gunmages begin to lower their weapons as the logic of Sebastian's argument mirrors their own thoughts. A group of three however is unwavering in their aim and Bosh moves around to put himself between them and the Captain. Rafaldo, Danika and even Tuborg have moved themselves into attack positions should the inevitable escalation of tensions occur. Before this can happen the basement receives a surprise visitor...

The diplomat Amelie appointed to the Brotherhood by the Transcontinental Rail Company strides confidently into the midst of the chaos carrying a bundle of paperwork and is surprisingly recognised by several of the resistance members. She explains as succinctly as possible that the resistance leaders have been suspicious of the activity of this cell for some time and claims that she has evidence showing a myriad instances of Gregors involvement in undermining their activities over a vast and widespread number of failed operations. These aforementioned leaders had placed operatives to observe those they suspected as well as past allies of Gregor's who may also be part of this traitors operations. Sebastian as one of Gregor's closest friends (albeit many years ago) was inevitably also suspected and the fact that his inner circle consisted of at least three persons with Llaelese connections and an Ogrun with an extremely dubious employment history was cause for investigation. She had been chosen for the task in no small way due to her having a fairly simple way of staying close to Sebastian LaCroix what with him being a somewhat infamous womaniser.

In light of these additional revelations and with documentation confirming his guilt all but three of the resistance in the cellar have lowered their weapons and these three now find themselves within striking distance of a pair of heavily armed and armoured warriors still coated in the lifeblood of their last opponents as well as being on the wrong end of a number of ranged weapons from both the Brotherhood and their own allies.

The one-sided stand-off is interrupted as a shot rings out as Sebastian puts a bullet neatly through Gregor's forehead before calmly walking away towards the exit to the bar knowing his officers well enough to know what would be happening next would probably get...messy...

Seeing that the game is now up the remaining traitors lower their weapons and are disarmed. Seeking additional confirmation of the infiltration the three are escorted into the back room for further interrogation. Christophe who had been sensibly listening in on all these events from the relative safety of the back room wisely vacated it as the prisoners were escorted in and making sure that his actual allegiances were known. Danika is a skilled interrogator with extensive knowledge of how best to extract confessions from recalcitrant subjects and between her 'enhanced interrogations' and Rafaldo's skills at manipulation Gregor and their own collaborations were revealed and the information from both Amelie and the documents she had provided were confirmed. Of course Rafaldo being familiar with Danika's methods made sure to be standing out of the range of and collateral damage from her inevitably brutal but effective methods. Many of those outside the room had moved to join Sebastian in the upstairs bar as the noises coming from the back room were enough to turn even the strongest of stomachs though both Christophe and Bosh had remained.

Editors Note - Danika has both the 'Interrogation' skills from her background and 'Torture' skills and appropriate equipment acquired in another mission. Rafaldo has to just rely on his Interrogation skills but that's rarely an issue as he's very good at it...

With their job done Danika indicted to 'Bosh' that the prisoners were no longer needed and that the crimes to which they'd confessed warranted their execution and he entered the rear room to oblige and with three swift halberd strokes the matter was resolved. As he emerged from the doorway Christophe enquired about what would be done with the now decapitated corpses equipment and having pre-empted the request Bosh handed over a pair of messy but still intact pistols and several bandoleers of ammunition having kept back the most intricately decorated one for Sebastian knowing his appreciation of pistols of all kinds. If any of the other members of the Amethyst Rose Order objected to this transfer of equipment then they wisely kept their opinions to themselves though it was unlikely to ingratiate Christophe with his peers...

With the now culled resistance cell left in the apparently capable hands of Amelie it seemed like an excellent time to leave the occupied half of Llael. Of course it was inevitably not going to be that simple...

Act Two - 'Dead or Alive?...Dead Will be Just Fine...'
Amelie meets you on the train and informs you that the actions of the occupied Llael cell have reached the resistance higher ups. Bounties have been placed on all resistance members thought to be compromised - Llael cannot afford more intel to go awry. Unfortunately given their involvement and survival in all the most recent disastrous resistance events certain unfortunate conclusions have been made about the Brotherhoods officers...You are tasked with getting to Rhydden and correcting the mistake...

Four of the Bounty Hunters hired to eliminate all the threats (including apparently the officer core of the Brotherhood and Christophe who had apparently been found guilty by association) were a female Sorcerer and Alchemist named Freya with a distinctive scarred face, a pair of Iosan Archers named Rek and Jannel and a poisoner named Varrig. Though Bosh knew several by reputation he'd had no interactions with any of them personally so knew none of them by sight. It was also likely that should the bounty be high enough that others would also be on the way to intercept them. With their train repaired, documents provided and cargo loaded it was off to 'Free' Llael to get the bounties on their heads removed before...well...before their actual heads were removed...

After an uneventful journey across the border and through Free Llael facilitated by the paperwork and passes provided by Amelie the train and it's cargo arrives in the Llaelese town of Rhydden. All the highest ranking members of the Llaelese military are supposedly in town for a military parade in a few days time and therefore those in charge of the resistance activities in Khadoran held Llael will also be there. While those Brotherhood members with resistance contacts and/or access to spies of their own were attempting to arrange to get their operatives to chair a meeting to appraise the leadership of the resolved situation with the traitor Gregor it as necessary to find somewhere to hold out so they were all alive long enough to get to such a meeting. Fortunately Christophe knew of several resistance and Amethyst Rose safe houses that might be appropriate. It was decided that one in a remote area outside of the main city would be most preferable as it would enable them to monitor an enemies approach as well as avoiding collateral damage that may draw additional attention. Christophe had a perfect location in mind though they'd need transport to get there before nightfall and so Sebastian went to acquire them some carriages. Before an further planning could be done a shot rang out missing Bosh's head by mere inches...

Tuborg scanned the rooftop and spotted the sniper concealed on a nearby rooftop. Quickly taking aim with his rifle he pulled off an incredible shot threading the bullet through the rooftop cover and into the would-be assassins side. Bosh sprinted off in the direction indicated by Tuborg with Rafaldo close behind hoping to ensure that the Ogrun took the sniper alive for questioning rather than cutting him in half. Noting the quickest access to the roof was a nearby building the Ogrun charged through the door without bothering to open it first with Raflado stepping through the splintered remains in pursuit while shouting yet again that they needed the target alive and well...or at least well enough to interrogate...

Slowed by his wound the sniper hadn't managed to escape anywhere near enough distance to elude his pursuers and was still making his way across to an adjacent roof when the Ogrun emerged and spotted him. Bosh recognised him as a fellow Bounty Hunter who he had worked with in the past named Hadrik and this familiarity and previous comradeship possibly explained why the shot had missed or at least that was what he hoped. Easily incapacitating the wounded rifleman he briefly considered throwing him off the roof before the persistent shouts from Rafaldo persuaded him to reconsider. Using the offer of medical assistance and the threat of a sudden, short and fatal journey off the roof Rafaldo gained some useful information.

Attracting hunters to take on a group with such a reputation for both success against impossible odds and who were also surrounded by rumours of hideous acts of violence and reprisal against their enemies had required a reward of unprecedented scale. Each of the Brotherhood officers had a bounty of five thousand gold crowns on their heads with fifty thousand being offered should all of them be brought in in one go. With such a ridiculous premium on their lives, the most experienced and formidable hunters and assassins in the entire area were no doubt ascending upon Rhydden as they spoke. Hadrik confirmed what they already knew about Freya the alchemist being on their trail as well as an unusual Trollkin and Gobber team named Grush and Dalli who were famed for their inventive use of explosives in a variety of forms.

The officers decided to take Hadrik with them to the safehouse as it was either that or kill him and it was decided that he night come in useful. After all...they could just kill him later if necessary...

Continued in Part Two...as soon as I've gotten around to writing it...