Darklands: King of the North

This is part of The Darklands story.

When Zubon and Augratin returned to Flensburg to report to the King of Denmark he merely laughed in their faces and had his guards throw them out to the street (specifically into a puddle). This, along with suddenly being accosted by random guards made the pair hold weight to the recently deceased Liore's fear that the King himself was allied with evil - or at the very least just wanted to be rid of them. Zubon openly wondered if the reason for this was that their unit, while killing rats in the castle, accidentally slew the king's pet mouse while Augratin suggested it may have been because of Rakuno's decoration suggestions.

With the tide they took passage on the next ship across the expansive river to Naskakov to lessen the ire of Denmark's monarch but even then, they were accosted by pirates most likely hired by the same king, who were only fought off with the help of the travelling hermit/bard "Vayshen Panda" and a mysterious nun who only introduced herself as "Sister C". Even there the soldiers of Denmark and the wiccan Wild Hunt chased them in the (small) lands across the waves. With no luck finding shelter they took another ship back to the mainland, jumping off near the shore to avoid unwanted attention. Sister C suggested they could try to outrun the long reach of the King's influence while Zubon voiced that they should try to put an end to the evil king in a near suicidal attempt on the city.

There must be some way to trick the King of the North...

Either way, their decision would have to wait for the light of day (since I'm taking a break from Darklands here) so they camp out in the woods and hole up for the night.

Darklands: The Great Monastery

This is part of The Darklands story.

It is an uneventful journey from Hamburg to Lubeck (same city as in Stalker Online I wonder?) and again to Flensburg which is ruled by the King of Denmark himself. Unfortunately all the monks within the walls (of all those cities) have no knowledge they wish to share of St. Thomas the Apostle, which Liore diligently checks to avert any Wild Hunt attacks. This doesn't bother her though as the Wild Hunt hasn't chased them recently, and more importantly because their destination was in sight.

After resting up at Flensburg the team journeyed across a large plain to the Great Monastery, ready to face anything. The exterior simply had a graveyard and two guard houses. Opening the door to the first they are surprised to find a squad of templar knights!

The bad ass kind, like the ones you find in Priest!

These traitors are well trained and well equipped, and the team just scrapes through for a victory with River sustaining heavy,  near death damage. After looting their chamber with Liore finding a strange bone they then come across a second group of templars and having been so weakened from the first fight Syncaine and Doone get knocked out early. Before anyone is killed Liore decides to surrender instead of abandoning her comrades. They are taken prisoner and brought to the dungeons below.

Darklands: Running like Mad

This is part of The Darklands story.

While taking refuge Jewel and Vagabond are taken under the care of "Liore Herder" a 30 year old nun and her 40 year old mentor "Tobold the Stout", a soldier turned friar who was interested in studies of the occult witches and hence their interest in the pair that survived the High Sabbat. Upon learning of the prayer books wanted by the Medici he convinces the group to go adventuring once more, easily retrieving the items from a den of giant spiders which killed hermit Wipo by running like mad.

Actually there was a lot of running... from bandits, wolves, boars, the wild hunt. It's very hard to put up a defense without basic adventuring gear - the cons of being poor. It is for this reason that they attempted to get the books back to the person that asked for them so that they could get some coin for their trouble.

Their mistake was trying to spend the night in the hamlet of Hoxter while trying to avoid a blizzard. The satanists there attacked the party in their sleep, and their schulz killed both Vagabond and Jewel while capturing the other two. He and his men left them to hang on a nearby tree but fortunately Liore managed to pull herself up and slip her ropes while they were distracted, saving herself and Tobold from an aspyxiating death.

Turns out evil chanting is handy after all.

Darklands: Party Crashers

This is part of The Darklands story.

Just to irritate the Wild Hunt further, Jewel decided to destroy a random pagan altar they came across as they journeyed to the town of Speyer. Alas the monks there did not know of St. Thomas the Apostle, but Vagabond did learn of a job for the Medici - to collect ancient prayer books from a hermit called Wipo South-East of Bremen - which was a long way away. After more slayings of wolves and a pair of giant spiders, as well as hiding from the wild hunt, Stubborn scaring bandits, and Belghast killing bandits the team comes across the satanist village of Buckeburg which they purge of evil.

As usual, one of them yells out something about revenge as they flee - this time North West of Gronnigen on September 22. For a change the group decides to actually go see what this "revenge" is, and to their surprise when they get there on that day it is the witches high sabbat! A huge throng of people has gathered there in the marshlands for an unholy evil time.

Cunningly, Jewel convinces the perimiter guards that they are new initiates of evil and while the accompanying guard wolves growl a bit at first they are let through into the main grounds of dark revelry. With so many people and places to go, the team decides to plan out on how best to sabotage this event.

Nearly a hundred? Need to kill 25 each!

Darklands: Wanted

This is part of The Darklands story.

In the next second it was on them.

The delay of saving the caravan caused the team time and by the very next night the Wild Hunt had found them. It wasn't hell hounds this time, just one incredibly fast and powerful minotaur like creature which almost won against the party. Almost. The next morning the group was fortunate enough to find a group of pilgrims headed to Koln which they joined for a safer journey.

Strangely upon arriving at the city the guards wanted to arrest them! With Jewel unable to talk their way out of this and the others (Stubborn and Belghast are slow :P) unable to outrun them they had no choice but to fight a few waves of the law men before finally melding with the bustling crowd, selling off the Tarnhelm to that foreign trader for a good sum of gold. They also decided to hire the 30 year old sneaky thief "Vagabond Walker" to help them elude further guardsmen and hopefully, the wild hunt too. As a bonus, Vagabond knew his way around firearms.

Not wanting to tarry in Koln the team quickly departed via a sewer grate beneath the walls and once more were chased by the wild hunt but Vagabond's stealth and speed managed to let them out distance their pursuers easily. Not long after they were approached by a Holzfrau (perhaps the same one they saved previously) who advised them to learn of "St. Thomas the Apostle" as only he could protect them from the wild hunt.

Darklands: That Tarnhelm

This is part of The Darklands story.

Wenzel Linck and his cronies are no match for the team, and it is with high spirits that they continue their quest for the Tarnhelm supposedly nearby somewhere. Alas their spirits are dashed when a large mercenary bandit unit ambushes them and slays Ravanel before being defeated themselves. They try to take refuge at the nearby Altenberg Hamlet afterwards only to discover it is home to more satanists who try to murder them in their sleep!

The team succeeds in slaying them all, again with one giving a specific date and time for revenge which again the team ignores, instead setting the place on fire and going to their nearby evil altar which Jewel successfully dismantles through crafting. Or, reverse crafting in this case. They push on and soon come across an underground tomb where they find the fabled Tarnhelm!

Surprise!

While getting in was easy, getting out is a little more challenging as a whole bunch of skeletons spawn to block their path. Fortunately these are easily shattered by Belghast and Stubborn and they flee the scene as quickly as possible, setting their course directly back for Koln while the trumpets of the wild hunt began sounding ever closer with each passing night.

This still doesn't prevent the virtuous trio from saving a merchant caravan under attack by bandit scum. Their reward is a high quality bronze pistol - too bad none of them know how to use it... or have ammunition for it either.

Darklands: The Hunt is On

This is part of The Darklands story.

Uh oh.

Not long after the encounter with the witch does the party realize that "the Wild Hunt" (a supernatural witch allied group) is after them. Fortunately Astalnar finds an empty cave for them to hide from whatever that is and continue their journey West to Aachen in the morning. They come across a small hamlet called Burleburg where Belghast voices his concern that the inhabitants are actually satan worshippers. Ravanel confirms this by confronting the Schulz and he and a few cronies attack after admitting to it.

They are easily dispatched and as one was fleeing he yelled out that they would have their revenge South East of Goslar on April 13. That's a pretty long thing to just blurt out on the fly, and Stubborn openly questioned why in the world would they -want- to be there to experience whatever revenge was planned? Shrugging it off the team then set the hamlet on fire and then proceeded up a nearby hill where an evil altar had been setup by the satanists. Unfortunately nothing they do can destroy the taint so they decide to continue on their journey.

Soon they come across a blasted landscape with dug up cemeteries, poisonous rivers and acidic rain that damages their gear. Even the local robbers seem "friendly", easily disuaded from combat as if there's something else to be worrying about in these parts. Their fears are confirmed when they meet Sir Diepold Rumer and his knightly entourage. His group are hunting "the beast of Luveh". A dragon.