The Enemy Within Prologue: A knock down drag out fight (Session 7 and 8)

 On the 6th and 13th of march 2026, I ran the 7 and 8th sessions of my home Enemy Within Campaign.

late afternoon, 2nd of Nachexen, 2512

The group arrive at Herr Starks shop. Oldenhaller's men move to secure the back alley and the fron the of the store. Our vagabonds however decide that they should probably check the warehouse outback before returning to the shop. Moving within, discover crates full of sausages, and stumble into Stark, another man, and two mutants.

The vagabonds charge, and a moment late blades are crossed. The Vagabonds charge puts the diseased creatures on the back foot, and within a few blows they drop one of the mutants while dodging and weaving returned blows. 

Then Stark raises an amulet and bellows for Rudi. 

From one of the side rooms, a horrific tentacled and diseased  mound of flesh emerges and charges the Vagabonds. For a moment, it seems that the vagabond have had the tables turned on them, but Diethart drops Herr Stark, even as he is lashed with tenticles and other blows.

Then he steps into an opening left by falling, allowing erik and connie step up. All three of them raining blows on the huge mutant, even as they fight of the other. More blows are exchanged and eventually the creature goes down.

Erik lands a devastating blow with his boat hook that drops the remaining mutand, and then connie dashes forwards and drives her dagger at the last cultist, who, in jumps back, just barely avoiding the blade.  

Outnumbered and outclassed, the cultist chooses to flee, as he ties to do so, Diethart slams the flat of his blade into the cultists shoulder jarring it badly, Connie slashes at his other hand, making the cultist drop his weapon, and then erik trips him with his boathook. As sword point the cultist surrenders, and is bound. 





However, the aftermath of the fight is cold comfort. In the next chamber, the vagabond find the horribly mutated Hanna Fleischer, deep in the grip of Nurgle's Rot, though they have no name for it, begging to be killed.

Diethart provides her mercy in short order. 

In another chamber, the party find a bound-and-gagged Tilean woman. It is at this point that Herr Stecknadel, Herr Tulpe, and Oldenhaller enter. Seeing what has happened, Herr Stecknadel and  Herr Tulpe set about killing the mutants, while the vagabond show Hanna's corpse to Oldenhaller. It is quickly agreed that Herr Fleischer must never know what happened her, and the group set about releasing the Tilean woman, who reveals that she is none other than Maria Della Miragliano. She explains that Stark had used an "amulet" to enchant her.

Oldenhaller pays the vagabonds off with 20gp, and sends them to guard Maria, while he has the warehouse burnt to the ground and Stark and the other cultist questioned.

Connie, who is the worst injured of the party attends a barbers surgeon, to have her wounds cleaned and patched, but as she waits, unseen by her companions, she quietly counts to herself.

On a break from guarding Maria, Erik bumps into his old mentor, Josef Quartjin, who mentions the possibility of working passage along the river to Altdorf. 

Back at Maria's appartments, Oldenhaller arrives, speaking to the now healed Connie, explaining that he has a couple of jobs for the vagabond, if they want them. One a special job, the other, a message that needs transporting to ubereik.

Lastly, in the bedroom, Maria Della Miragliano tells Diethart that she is desperate to leave Nuln, and that while it is the only civilised city in the empire, she cannot stay here any longer after the horrible events she has experienced, offering him a job as her body guard, and the others a job as servants. 


We have over the last two sessions been learning how to use the foundry systems for combat. It has been a slow and rather in depth process. While it has been slow, it is probably the closest thing I have yet run to a PROPER 4e combat, and I am very happy with it...though we as a group are going to have to practice with the system. this combined with illness and tiredness led to shorter sessions dominated by a single combat.

However the players have completed sing for your supper, and have ahead of them several choices as to their next steps. 

The characters earned 100xp for the session and 150xp for the completion of the adventure.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Enemy Within Prologue: Morrslieb Rising! (Session 1)

On Friday the 16th of January 2026, I started running the Enemy Within. This post is a write up of session 1 of the campaign.  Dramatis Personae Diethart Drechsler Diethart is a mercenary light cavalryman who began his career under the banner of Trott's Marauders. He was part of a small contingent of light cavalry that had been hired by a merchant named Rudolf Schneider, who was making the trip though blackfire pass to trade in the boarder princes. Little does he know that he figures in the plans of the great architect. Erik Kleinsen A boatman, who got his start crewing for Josef Quartjin. An Altdorfer by birth; Erik is loosely associated with the Fish and has some connections up and down the Reik.   Connie Uhl Connie's was raised by Sisters of Sigmar in the Altdorf. She has been told that her mother died when she was 3, and that her illegitimate father paid for her to be raised by the Sisters. However, Connie has turned from the life of service planned for her, and ...
Read more

Planning: Travel out of Nuln (part 1)

Image
Choices, choices... The start of Enemy in Shadows is hundreds of miles from where the Vagabonds find themselves right now. The reason for this? Well I'd like to establish some NPCs, let the players get to grips with their  PCs and play though a few classics before they get stuck in.   But there is another reason. The enemy within, especially, Enemy in Shadows, pretty linear.  I'd like to increase the level of agency in the campaign as a whole, and a good starting point is to give them choice about the routes they take. Sure, they will end up walking though the mud, on the road from Delbren towards altdorf...but how they get there will be there will be a series of meaningful choices. The first step is getting them out of Nuln, destined either for Altdorf or Ubersreik. I have four routes prepped in lose form; four offers of work that will pay their way.     The Second Oldenhaller Constract Having served the interests of  Albrect Oldenhaller in a som...
Read more

Planning: Travel out of Nuln (part 3)

Image
 Keep rolling, rolling, rolling... Onto the Ubersreik. The Vagabonds have a bit more  choice here. While the Tilean song-bird has a  preference for taking the stage coach, she is not wed  to the idea, and if the Vagabonds are agents of Herr  Oldenhaller, it is up to them to choose between stage  and barge. So first of all, we'll cover the stage coach route. Nuln to Konigsdorf  (60 miles. +1 Fatigue) It is bright brisk day as you set out on the road from Nuln to Konigsdorf. The fetter of the city leaves you in its wake quickly, the carriage thunders along some of the best roads in the empire. Cost:    4/2(Roof)                8/4 (inside)  Weather: Fair Chill and bright, with a relatively warm southerly breeze that carries the barge along. Encounter: Good Medicine The Vagabonds encounter Doktor Anida Pflaster (See Enemy in Shadow, pg. 31), who is riding in the Stage coach with them. She wi...
Read more