Thursday, January 29, 2009

Prologue: The Road to Ruin

After entering the employ of Stefano de Medici in Prag, Miklos, Seighard and Thom Ecke escorted him and his brother Cosimo South. They were ambushed by Hussites, many were killed and the strange Dominican Piero (who was curiously interested in what Cosimo was carrying) and his pupil fled into the woods. The companions charges were merely wounded and they to fled through the Bohmerwald, battling a supernatural foe and bitter cold of the forest.

In need of aid, they added the skills of one Hans to their number. They all then investigated the village of Schryswig, still smoldering after it had been burnt to the ground for heresy. There Hans traded recipes with a canny old lady who kept many black cats while the others tried fruitlessly to track the black cowled foreigner (with the same accent as Stefano) . On their way to hold the local lord to account for his overzealous treatment of the humble peasants, they explored a hidden cult sanctuary.

Inside the four vanquished it's guardian with Han's heretofore hidden relic and were rewarded with some arcane secrets, but were unable to carry away other treasures, including a large gilded cross, wreathed with golden roses. Rebuffed at the lord's forbidding keep, the companions and their charges made their way south coming upon the village of Rosenheim. At this village, they re-met the Hussites, led by their shaggy blond Captain, and after a ferocious clash of arms, forced the Hussites to surrender and return to Bohemia. Now the companions take their ease at Rosenheim, pondering a very odd letter, before braving the highway to Regensburg.

Continued in Chapter One: Regensburg Nights

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