The Enemy Within Prologue: The Manic Street Preacher of Kemperbad (Session 12)

On the 1st of May 2026, I ran the 12th sessions of my home Enemy Within Campaign. A belated May day to you all.

Morning 6th of Nachexen, 2512, The Lorley. 

Snow falls on the crew and passengers, including the Gravin (who has come aboard hoping to avoid further interference from Dammenblatz), a small portion of her staff, Maria, and Pompai. Ahead, the Lorley rise out of the water. 

Josef puts Erik on the tiler for his first taste of a real navigation hazard, and calls on the vagabonds to help with the navigation. A very cold and sorry for himself looking Diethard refuses however, and goes below to warm up. Connie meanwhile spots several threats and calls them out. So, with  Josef's tuition, Erik is able to just, shakily guide the ship through safely.

A couple of hours later the barges pulls into Achern. Some cargo is unloaded, other cargo taken on, including a passenger, one Heinrich ‘The Grouch’ Marken.  The rest of the day is spend sailing for the 

The Empress Margritta, a riverside pub. The Grouch tells jokes the whole way.

 

Evening, 6th of Nachexen, 2512, The Empress Margaritta. 

Out intrepid vagabonds get dragged ashore in the wake of Pompai and drinks are drunk. Connie in particuar is caught up, and ends up spending a good chunk of change. 

Erik, being only a little drunk takes the time to gossip and learns that:

• Their building a load of signal towers, and a few of them are along the reik. Keep an eye out of them, you might see them on the way. 
  
  
• Yela Holtsgutter's the oldest huffer on the reik must be the oldest person in the empire. They say she'd been working the reiker marshes since the time of Magnus.
  
  
• The migration of entertainers west, for the Schaffenfest, seems to have started early this year. Watch your purses, and be aware that by the time you reach altdorf, ever bar and inn is going to be heaving with jugglers, singers, players and pickpockets, all wanting to make a bit of coin to last them til Mitterfruhl. 
  
  
• PLANT have been holding some protests, claiming that the Veteran's Winter Fuel Allowance has been cut. When I left, they'd were "occupying" Zoat Park near Börsenzentrum.
  
  
• Some big expedition being planned, a trip into the gray mountains by all accounts. 

Morning, 7th of Nachexen, 2512, The Reik

After the last two days snow, things are much nicer today, and the party are able to sail onward. The territory along the western bank however, is unwelcoming. Dark forests, small villages, and a looming castle pass by, and the crew eventually find themselves in Kemperbad in the early afternoon.

Mid-afternoon, 7th of Nachexen, 2512, Kemperbad

Diethard, Connie and Erik say fair well to the grouche and to Pompai, who disappear into the city, and get ready to go ashore. Josef warns them he things a storm is coming, due to his aches and pains, and the three gather Maria to escort her safely to the hotel of her choice, when the Gravin asks them to attend her as they make their way into the city. The party make their way through the Stelzenstadt, the crowded region of wharfs, hovels and taverns right up against the cliffs, through the Beggar’s Gauntlet and its huddled masses of beggars and flagellants calling for alms.  Just as they are about to get to the reason the Gravin has asked them to attend her, a particularly loud flagellant launches into a roaring speech.

‘I see Darkness Gathering as the Last House of Joy Falls - beware,

 for Shadows Over Bögenhafen stir!

 Then Beloved Morr, resplendent in Vestments of Green,

stands astride Sigmar’s Great River. 

Yea, I see Death on the Reik and I despair!

 For then the Stained Hand guides the Once Mighty Lord,

 and this Power Behind the Throne curses us all. 

Lo, the Horned Rat then claims the Broken King atop his Throne of Lies,

 and the White Walls Fall, leaving our Empire in Ruins! 

Tremble in fear, ye mighty,

 for the End Times have come.’  

- A Manic Street Preacher in Kemperbad

Art by Adrian Smith

With this fel prophesy's ringing in their ears, they grab a lift to the summit and the Gravin explains that in thanks for their service, she is prepared to offer Diethard the job of being her judicial champion on the morrow, as she does not have time to find and vet a new one, or hire a new lawyer. Diethard  takes the offer on the grounds that he believes he'll be able to pursuade Josef to wait to set off and the promissed pay is to much for him to turn down.

As they come to the top of the lift, they are greeted by hustle and bustle, including lots of troops rounding around. In the distance, A town crier calls out:

 "War in the Suden Vorbergland.
Altdorf troops take Ubersreik in a single night. 

Reikland Diet vote, Jungfreud's take flight!"

This news leaves Connie very quiet indeed.

An exhausted Diethard, Connie and Erik, say fair well to the Gravin, and then lead Maria to the Hammer Inn in Tempelhof, where  the group settle in to sleep as the first snow flakes fall.

Morning, 8th of Nachexen, 2512, Kemperbad

In the night, the snow that started to fall the night before have whipped up into a full blizzard.

Knowing imperial justice isn't likely to wait, Diethart sets out to gather info on his opponent, the duel, and anything else he can. 

Meanwhile, Connie and Erik set out to see an old friend of Erik's Alice Nutter, a former warleader of the Fish, who saved Erik's life during the fog riots. She has since been shipped up the river to live in the Stir house, a charitable home for elderly riverfolk, maintained by the grace of the cults of grandfather reik,  the cult of shallyian, and most off all, by the fish.

Diethart learns that his opponent Udos Aschaffurt outclasses him, but has a number of weaknesses(he favours booze and weird root a little to much). Additionally he learns that he has just missed his former mercenary company and his main unit by a matter of hours. Shortly after the news of events in Ubersreik arrived in town, Absolem Trott split his led his company of Trott's marauders. Roughly half of the troops were sent into the  from the Suden Vorbergland, including artillary, heavy cavalry, and a small collection of Demigryphs, and the horses of the Sabres of Glory. Meanwhile, many of the men and women of the companies infantry, and many of the sabres' of glory boarded barges, heading for altdorf. more worrying still, one of the ruours tells of how, when recieving the news of the invasion of Ubersreik, Trott beat the messenger to death in the pub where he had been drinking.

Meanwhile Connie and Erik take tea with Alice Nutter, a heavily tattooed woman in her later years, who tells Erik about the failed revolution, and of Yefimovich's betrayal of the revolution, and alliance with the ruinous powers. She tells of the beast in velvet, of the dead women of the east end. She trails off, falling asleep, clearly happier for the visit.  .

Erik decides to get his sword seen to by the man who forged it, and estillian sword smith from the Street of Blades in the Grossmarkt. The blade had been almost all his pay form his first campaign, purchased at the advice of his friend Bruno Shultz. It is fine work, and when  Señor Cuchilla see's it he can recall it in detail (though he shows little memory of Diethart) and scolds the mercinary on not maintaining the blade properly. Señor Cuchilla takes the blade and sets about restoring it, flirting with Diethart the whole time.

The blade restored, the vagabonds gather once more with an hour to go before the judicial bout.

Sometimes you play...and nothing happens, and then you get a session like this where bam! Everyone earned 100xp for the session. I didn't get to deal with the Broadalbin so along with the judical bout, that is next session's problem.