In which our friends continue their journey east, honour a dying man’s wish, and find themselves lured into a trap.
Friday, September 28th – Saturday, September 29th
Back on the road
Kethe would need some more rest to heal her cracked ribs, but she was still able to ride and the adventurers agreed to go on to the next town, Krüdenwald, and then rest up there for a few days. They should arrive in time for Mittherbst, the autumn festival at the end of the harvesting season.
The first stage, to Krüdenwald, took two and a half days of pleasantly calm and uneventful travel; for most of the way, they were following a well-travelled country road through wide, open valleys with wooded hills east and west. To the east, the hills rose higher, turning into the foothills of the Midden Mountains.
On Saturday, they crossed the border between the Principality of Middenheim and the province of Hochland. The forest was starting to creep closer to the road on the western side and the landscape gradually turned hillier and rockier, but still well cultivated along the high road.
Sunday, September 30th – Tuesday, October 2nd
Mittherbst in Krüdenwald
On Sunday afternoon they reached the small walled town of Krüdenwald. They were stopped at the gate but allowed to pass since they weren’t planning to sell any of their goods in the town. There had been a cattle market in a meadow outside the town walls this weekend, and the market day was already starting to blend over into the Mittherbst festival. The adventurers checked into the White Dog, the cheaper of the two inns in the town. Kethe rested there for a couple of days; the others enjoyed themselves at the autumn fair for a bit, and Marike found a hatter to do something about the sorry state of her favourite hat after the crow attack.
Wednesday, October 3rd – Friday, October 5th
Bergsburg and the Nurturer’s Falls
Finally, on Wednesday, they were ready to go on. Kethe had recovered, Marike had had her hat repaired (and bought a new one for good measure), and Aenlinn had stocked up on tobacco.
Next day, they arrived in Bergsburg, one of the few proper cities of Hochland. The city was best known for the Nurturer’s Falls, a waterfall said to be blessed by the Nurturer with healing and purifying powers. The waterfall was a place of pilgrimage, driving some traffic to the city and contributing to its prosperity. The adventurers stopped for the night in Bergsburg and in the morning visited the waterfall and its adjacent church, both indeed quite magnificent. Marike and Kethe even took a bath in the holy falls’ basin; it was horrendously cold but they did feel a little purified.
* * *
The next day, on Friday, they went on, turning onto the northern high road winding eastwards south of the Midden Mountains towards Wolfenburg. It was narrower and muddier than the larger road that continued south towards Talabheim. There were still some coaches here but they went a bit slower; with some 20 miles between coaching inns you couldn’t change horses as often.
Saturday, October 6th
The dying man
On Saturday, just past a bend in the road, they came upon a wounded young man by the side of the road. He was half-sitting against a tree, bleeding profusely from wounds in his chest and stomach. Lying next to the dying man was his sword, its blade broken.
With the last of his strength, the man told the adventurers his name was Gustav von Reuter and he was returning to his parents’ manor when vicious robbers attacked him, took his money and left him to die. With his dying breath, he asked them to return his signet ring to his father and tell him of his death. The manor house, the Schloss von Reuter, was only a couple of hours’ ride away following the next side road north.
Aenlinn found some footprints disappearing south into the forest, but soon lost the trail. They put Gustav’s body in their cart and set off to get to his home before dark.
The exit road led into heavier woods, eventually opening up a little and giving way to a couple of villages; the farmers, who were clearing meadows and shearing sheep, confirmed tersely that the adventurers were on the right path; Herr von Reuter’s manor was at the end of the road. “But make sure you get there before nightfall! There are wolves in the woods.”
The last stretch of road passed through a dense, dark forest with tall pines and firs that almost seemed to lean over the road; it felt like riding in a tunnel.
Back to the manor
Finally – it was indeed getting dark now – they emerged into a wide open clearing, dominated by the towering Schloss von Reuter. It was a large, half-timbered house, impressive but strange-looking; it appeared to have been extended and rebuilt many times over, the lower floors seemed to sag slightly under the weight of the upper, and the whole edifice somehow looked slightly crooked and lopsided. Behind the main house was an overgrown garden and something that looked like a monument; off to the side were the stables and some other small outbuildings. Two torches were burning at the gate, and lights were on in a couple of windows on the top floor.
As they approached, they heard dogs barking, and as they reached the bridge over the ditch around the house, the door was opened by a squat servant with a dog on a leash. He asked them to wait while he notified his master.
After a while, the gatekeeper returned and told them, briefly and monosyllabically, that the Lord would receive them. They drove their cart through the gatehouse into the large courtyard, surrounded on three sides by rows of houses and on the fourth side by a low wall with a gate to the stables and outbuildings. Courage stayed with the cart and horses.
Before they even reached the gate to the main hall, they were met by a distraught-looking middle-aged lady. “Please,” she asked, “Have you come with news of my son?”
The adventurers looked at each other and then at Marike, who got to explain what had happened. The lady silently sank to her knees in despair. Just then, a somewhat older gentleman – perhaps in his early sixties – strode out of the house and placed a hand on her shoulder, his stern face softening slightly as he tried to comfort her. He then straightened up and turned to the adventurers.
“Welcome to my home. My name is Konstantin von Reuter, and this is my wife Sanne,” he said in a deep and sonorous voice. “Gustav is my son. I take it you have come to tell us he will not be returning to Schloss von Reuter?”
Although clearly sad about his son’s death, Konstantin kept his composure better than his wife. He offered the adventurers lodgings for the night – “then we can discuss tomorrow how I might reward you for your trouble” – and asked the gatekeeper to carry the body into the chapel. He and Sanne, who had composed herself somewhat by now, showed the adventurers into a hallway with a cloakroom to the side, and further out into the great hall. It was two stories high; a spiral staircase in the hallway led up to a balcony with several doors. A table was set in the middle of the hall.
Meet the von Reuters
Konstantin sent his manservant Lothar – who was as taciturn as the gatekeeper – to fetch the “children” and eventually the hall began to fill with people; two young women and a little girl came down from the balcony and a young man from another direction.
Sanne was silent, her gaze lowered, as Konstantin introduced his family. “This is my son, Sebastian,” he said, indicating a tall, sullen, dark-haired youth, who nodded briefly in greeting. “Sebastian is Gustav’s younger brother,” added the father.
“Anya here is my eldest,” he continued, indicating a petite young lady with ash-blonde hair, pretty but pale and drawn, “and this is Wilhelmina.” The other daughter was beautiful and graceful, with dark auburn hair and full lips, holding a girl of six or so in her hand. “The child is cousin Elena”, Konstantin explained. The girls curtseyed.
With the family assembled, Konstantin told them of Gustav’s death and asked the adventurers to explain how it happened. The daughters cried and wailed, and little Elena put both hands over her face, while Sebastian just looked angrier. Konstantin thanked the adventurers once more, explained that the family was just about to have a late supper and invited them to share their meal before bed. He ordered Lothar to set more places at the table, and then excused himself and his family as they all went off to the chapel to say their farewells to Gustav.
This gave the adventurers a moment to discuss among themselves. They agreed there was something quite off about everything in this house; Marike had also sensed a disturbing emotional coldness from their host. They agreed not to stay here any longer and necessary but leave first thing in the morning. Another odd detail they noticed looking around was the taxidermied animals placed here and there: a dog in the hallway, an owl perched on a cupboard, and a cat on the mantelpiece.
A late supper
The family cames back and when Wilhelmina had taken little Elena – who apparently has already eaten – upstairs and come back after putting her to bed, everyone sat down at the table.
The meal was simple but hearty: fried sausages, mixed vegetables and sauerkraut with a very agreeable red wine. Konstantin opened the supper with a toast to Gustav and then asked the guests to tell about themselves and their experiences.
The adventurers soon noticed Konstantin completely dominating the family, especially his wife Sanne, answering questions for her and cutting her off. Sebastian barely said a word, sullenly concentrating on eating and drinking.
The daughters were more sociable and interested in hearing more about their guests’ adventures. Kethe vividly recounted the battle against the demon pig in Kröte, but avoided bringing up their more recent adventures. Wilhelmina, who seemed to have quickly gotten over her grief and now appeared confident and flirtatious – “call me Mina,” she said with a smile – marveled at their feats. Anya was less forward, but curious to learn more about the world outside their home. The sisters didn’t seem to get along very well; Mina kept teasing and needling Anya (but with the same sweet tone of voice). Their father ignored it, but when Anya finally got angry and shot back, he snapped at her to behave herself in front of the guests.
When conversation turned back to Gustav, it turned out that no one seemed particularly surprised by his death. Gustav was headstrong, eager to go on adventures rather than look after the estate. “Gustav went his own way,” Konstantin said with a sigh. “He went with my blessing, but deep down I always had a feeling that things would end badly for him.” Sanne was still noticeably distraught, but the rest of the family seemed to think they already lost Gustav long ago.
Kethe asked about the taxicermy animals and Konstantin modestly admitted conservation being somewhat of a hobby of his. When it was eventually revealed that Marike was an alchemist, he was intrigued and revealed he had done some dabbling in the Art himself – “strictly on an amateur level” – and offered to show her his laboratory the next day, if she was interested. Marike diplomatically agreed to a quick tour, but pointed out they were in a hurry and would have to leave in the morning.
Night quarters
After supper, the valet Lothar led the adventurers to another part of the house, up a couple of stairs to the attic, a labyrinth of narrow corridors. He showed them into an antechamber with doors to two guest rooms – one with four beds and one with two – and a small privy. They split into the two guest rooms with Marike and Courage in the smaller one. Somehow having a bad feeling about all this, they decided to take turns keeping watch in the antechamber – especially after realising the shutters in both rooms were nailed shut. They had only their personal equipment on them, of course; the rest being loaded on the cart and horses in the stable.
Marike, taking first watch, noticed the door to the corridor was also locked: they had been locked up in there. She told Kethe upon waking her for her watch; Kethe set about trying to force the door.
The night before Sunday, October 7th
Gustav returns
As Kethe was struggling with the door, both she and Marike felt the hairs on the back of their necks stand up as the air suddenly gets colder. A ghostly, bluish mist “seeped” through the door and began to take form in the antechamber. Marike and Kethe backed off and shouted to wake the others.
As the phantom took a clearer form they recognized Gustav von Reuter, without his dying wounds, but through holes in his shirt they could see straight scars on his body, like cuts. (Wernhart immediately thought of autopsy sections.) He was opening and closing his mouth, as if trying to say something. At first nothing was heard, but slowly his voice became audible, though weak and hollow.
“Forgive me, strangers,” he said. “My father wishes you harm… you must flee, but father commands the things in the forest… Please… avenge me and all those he lured here. Save yourselves… forgive me… father used me, used my soul, and he will do the same to you…”
The adventurers tried to ask him questions – could Anya be of any help? – but he had already begun to fade away and soon he was gone.
* * *
The party held a quick council of war. Gustav was apparently long dead when the adventurers found him, it seemed his father dabbled in necromantic dark arts – perhaps alchemical ones – and Kethe pointed out that the ghost sounded like they weren’t the first to be lured here this way. Should they try to escape, or confront a dangerous necromancer on his home turf? Aenlinn said they couldn’t just let him go on like this. Who knows how many people he’d already murdered and done horrible experiments on? Either way, the first thing they had to do was get out of the room they were locked in. As long as they could keep their escape undetected, they had the element of surprise.
They finally managed to force open the door. The dark maze of the attic was silent. After wandering around for a while, they found the stairs down and crept out into the courtyard.
By now the house was mostly dark, but there were lights in a few windows on the upper floors, including from Mina’s room, which had windows facing the yard, and from a couple of windows in the southern wing. Maybe they could find an ally in the house – Anya or maybe Sanne? But first they needed to arm themselves and prepare their horses. They managed to sneak into the stables, where there were a few further horses, including a large black warhorse. Out in the woods, wolves were howling.
The adventurers geared up, got their horses ready for a quick departure, and then crept out again on foot. Again they caught sight of the collection of low stone buildings and monuments behind the house – could they be tombs? – and decided to start with examining them more closely.
The Enemy Within: Remixed 
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