Home > WFRP

Champions of Ostgarten
Part 3: In the Baron’s Service

Two days later the caravan finally entered Ostgarten, a bright town of steep cobbled streets, white-painted houses with red roofs and gables, and a handful of tall, strong towers. The baron’s castle lies at the height of the hill around which the town is built, overlooking a fast river.

Albrecht introduced them with glowing praise to the burghermeister, Walther Lenk, who took them to meet the Baron Ludolf von Battenburg and his council: his wife the baroness, Claire Hessen von Battenburg; Gotfrid Malburg the militia commander; and Lucie Hilling Scharburg, wife of the ailing elderly castellan.

The adventurers, none of them schooled in social niceties, made a less than glowing impression on these notables, but the baron was glad to enlist them in the militia. Malburg told them to report to Captain Schubert, commander of the Blue Wolf Company, a professional mercenary outfit hired to strengthen and organize the barony’s defenses.

The next morning they were out on their first assignment. A large company of the baron’s men marched north after hearing reports of goblins nearby. The small army was split in two groups, the militia (including our heroes) on the west flank and the blue-coated Wolves on the east.

A sergeant told the adventurers to move ahead and scout for enemy leaders, and either spy on them or capture one. No sooner had he given the orders than shouts came from the assembled men—goblins were coming.

Sithbane and Odinson charged down the hill to join the fray, followed by Farnoth and Otto. It was a short, sharp skirmish, but the four of them felled as many goblins as the entire militia squad nearby, and that kept the militiamen’s casualties lower than they might have been.

When the last goblin had fled into the woods, the adventurers moved out to start scouting. An hour or so later Farnoth spied movement ahead in the trees—four goblin scouts. He shot one dead, and the other three turned and fled as Sithbane and the rest charged.

The adventurers chased the goblins to the edge of the treeline, and in a gap below they saw the ruins of an old abbey. The goblins ran to a crumbling pile of masonry that nearly concealed stairs leading underground, where a couple of big orc chiefs were talking. The orcs browbeat the scouts (literally) and sent them back into the woods, obviously not believing they had enemies in pursuit. The orcs laughed and went downstairs.

The adventurers went into the ruins and crept down the stairs after them. The goblin raiders had obviously turned the underground remains of the old abbey into their hide-out; old fires still guttered and the place stank of goblin filth. Farnoth and company followed the voices of the big orcs down creaking corridors into their lair, where they heard them discussing their plans.

The orc captains called each other Dulgrist and Sharkbreath.

Sharkbreath: “What’s with the big battle, hey? Easy pickings and gold in the bag is what that greasy weasel of yours said. Now your own top dog is out there in the fight!”

Dulgrist: “My Blacktooth knows his orders. Kill all the peasant filth he wants, but pull back once them bluecoats show up. Them soldiers. Oh, he’ll make a show of it, throwing some spears, like. But the real fight’s just for the townies, all soft and squeamish.”

Sharkbreath: “The blues’ll let your boys get away that easy, will they?”

Dulgrist: “After Blackie makes a show of it, they will. Chase after him a bit, maybe one or two of our greenies go down, that’s all. Ah, you don’t cotton it yet. We got it all sewn up, Sharkey. Gold in the bag. Townies’ gold, paid on the new moon! Take what we can from the villages and give the dirtlickers any grief we want besides. All we got to do is stay clear of them bluecoats. No battle with them! The baron’s man wouldn’t like it. Then the gold might stop.”

Sharkbreath: “Baron’s man? That’s your weasel? What’s the baron want with his villages burnt up and his peasants skewered?”

Dulgrist: “Ah, never you mind. That’s secret, is what that is. You just take your lads our there and let them villages have it, and keep clear of the blues, and you’ll get your share. It’s all sewn up. Where’s that grog? Blacktooth’ll be coming in with prisoners, and I’ve got a mind for a song before we eat!”

The adventurers heard the orcs coming back their way, so they turned and headed out again before the goblins could return.

They took a side passage they hadn’t taken before, to stay out of sight of the orc captains. A section of floor creaked and cracked ominously when Farnoth jogged over it. Then Odinson tried to leap over that patch—and landed straight on it, shattering the weak floor beneath him and falling hard to the dirt floor of burial catacombs underneath. Sithbane and Otto jumped the gap, threw a rope down and started pulling Odinson up, but before he was all the way up the orcs heard the noise and came to investigate.

The orcs snarled and looked like they might charge—but seeing the pit they craftily backed up and headed back to the entrance, aiming to cut the adventurers off. Farnoth suggested the adventurers jump back over and follow them, maybe taking them by surprise. They did, and he spotted one of the orcs, Sharkbreath, peeking into the goblin barracks-room from the far corridor. Farnoth aimed an arrow at Sharkbreath’s eye, but the bowstring slipped and the arrow went wild.

Sithbane ran along the wall of the big room toward the corridor where the orcs had gone to stand watch. Otto and Farnoth jogged out into the room to cover the fight with arrows and spells. Odinson made to follow Sithbane.

Then Sharkbreath charged out and slammed into Sithbane in the corner. Dulgrist appeared in the entrance, hurled a knife at Farnoth (it missed) and charged the elf and the wizard. Odinson barreled forward to intercept Dulgrist.

And the worst fight any of the adventurers had ever faced was on.

Sharkbreath and Sithbane fought a brutal, blooy duel, sword to sword. Sithbane wounded the orc captain in the face and jaw and arm. The orc’s cleaver-like sword slashed Sithbane’s own face and head, and Sharkbreath nearly knocked him down with an elbow to the forehead. A couple of arrows and spells glanced off the big orc. Finally Sharkbreath stumbled and Sithbane knocked his sword down and chopped into the big orc’s scalp, knocking him out cold. Exhausted, Sithbane ran Sharkbreath through and turned to help his friends.

Dulgrist had given them just as hard a time of it, shrugging off grazing arrows, Otto’s blasting spells and Odinson’s flail. The huge orc gave Farnoth a wicked slash in the side, then knocked the elf out with a meaty punch to the temple. He cut Odinson in the arm and leg and body. When his sword slipped and flew across the room, the orc chief tackled Odinson and tried to throttle the dwarf and steal his flail, but Odinson managed to wriggle free.

Finally Dulgrist ducked back to grab a burning brand from the fire, then fell with his leg numbed from a blow from Odinson’s flail. Wounded and scorched in a dozen places, Dulgrist swung madly with his torch, even after Sithbane joined in. Finally Otto put him down with a sleep spell.

All of them heavily wounded except Otto, who had stayed out of the brawl while casting spell after spell, the adventurers tied Dulgrist tightly and hauled him out of the ruins. They reached the safety of the treeline just in time to see the goblin horde coming back to the hideout.