Of Murders and Rats

It was then that fate struck. Chance would allow word of our heroes exploits in the Drakwald to reach the ears of the commander of Middenheim’s Militia. So he summoned out three intrepid adventurers to tell him of what has transpired in Untergard and the Drakwald. Impressed, Commander Shultzmann offer’s Ladamere, Heinz and Grudge a job as deputy militiamen, hardly lucrative but more than what they have at the moment. Just as the meeting was coming to a pleasant conclusion, word came in that the good priest of Sigmar, Morten had been viciously murdered within the confines of the Temple itself.

This report would have dire implications for our heroes for it is they who last visited father Morten. The relic that the adventurers delivered has also gone missing. Commander Shultz turns grim and demands an explanation from the three. As would reason be pointed out by our heroes; why would they of all persons, murder and then steal a most holy relic of Sigmar when they delivered said Relic to the murdered priest in the first place. They explained that, one would think that disappearing in the dark woods of the Drakwald with the relic and intent to sell it to the highest bidder some in some obscure border town would be an easier prospect than initiating a conspiracy this grand a scale therefore risking death at the hands of a vindictive Inquisition. Our heroes were fortunate for the Commander was a wise and just man, and would not let himself be blindly led by circumstance. He then deputized and tasked the three to investigate the matter and, hopefully, clear their names. Although their argument was beyond any reason to doubt, people- specially the Cult of Sigmar, would demand a scapegoat and a burning or two.

Investigating the Temple, specifically in the quarters of the dead father Morten, they find numerous clues as to the identity of the perpetrator. The room was left untouched since by order of the town Militia. The body of the Morten lies seated on his wooden stool but slumped on the desk. The window behind him lay open and a good view of the Collegium Theologica is to be seen from here. Around the desk where the priest’s remains are slumped lies scattered parchment, all suspiciously blank. There is no trace of the Relic.

Upon examination, they quickly discover that Father Morten was felled by a poisoned dart from a blowgun. Rummaging through the blank papers, Heinz sees a parchment with what seems to be faint impressions of writing. Ladamar also discovers scratches on the windowsill, scratches not made by anything human and in, fact more rat-like! Peering outside the window, the dwarf also sees what seemed to be like trail marks from a puddle of mud in the streets below. They quickly investigate the tracks and discover that these were not of human origin. They scratch a stick of charcoal on the blank sheet of paper and discover that Father Morten was writing about the relic at the time of his death. Nothing more can be found in the scene of the crime.

They return to Shultzmann and tell him of their discoveries. Shultzmann ponders about these and leads the band to a dank underground room in the City Watch headquarters; here can be found thousands of scrolls wherein records of previous crimes are written on them. He produces three scrolls of three recent crimes that are linked to deaths from poisoned darts. The first victim was an unidentified man whose remains were found in the Ostwald district of Middenheim, The second, a dwarf in league with the city engineers’ guild and the third was a Watchman found dead near the Collegium Theologica. The commander also informs them that perpetrators of these murders are suspected to be Skaven, ancient and vile ratmen who serve the Dark Powers and whose ultimate goal is to topple human civilization. The high council of Middenheim has kept mum about the Skaven and as far as the general populace is concerned, they do not exist lest the knowledge of these ratmen become public and cause widespread panic and hysteria among Middenheim’s dwellers. The next logical step was for our heroes to investigate and, hopefully, find leads out of these seemingly random murders.