129: Brass Keep

Hello, mum. We had just got rid of the rat men stragglers, but we were still some way from Brass Keep, and we had to get close to the battle if we were going to get a decent look at it. So Fred brought up the horses and we led them up the track towards the keep. It was a bit too steep and rocky for us to ride them safely, and they would have made us a lot less stealthy. But we wanted them nearby in case we needed to make a quick getaway.

We loaded our weapons and continued up the track. Although Guido had patched up the wound on my belly, it was still hurting and I could tell that a blow anywhere near it would probably open the wound up and it would start bleeding again.

Before we got a good look at the keep we came across what looked a bit like a mine opening. But it looked like it had been dug very recently and not very safely. I had a quick look in and it looked like it would collapse pretty easily. And I spotted bits of rat men bodies trapped underneath sections of collapsed tunnel. So it looked like it had been mined by rat men who were in a hurry and from the inside out. And I saw that there were hundreds of rat man tracks leading out of the tunnel, heading towards the keep.

We wondered whether it would be a good idea to block this off, or not. It would be good to try to thwart the rat men, especially if they ever returned to the tunnel carrying something important like the Krisstall of Immortalitee (whatever that is, mum). But on the other hand, we didn’t want to trap them and force them to fight us, as there could be literally hundreds of them, and animals like that always fight fiercest when they are trapped.

Blume reckoned that one of the bombs that Degni had given her would be able to take out the whole structure quite easily. So we left her there, with the horses, setting up a bomb and fuse, and we told her to light the fuse at her discretion, which we thought probably meant she would light it at some point, if only to make herself feel less lonely.

The rest of us carried on towards the keep, and as we began to hear the sounds of battle we spotted the track that Emmiline had described that led along a ridge above the keep, and so we headed up that way. It was a bit of a hike and quite difficult. Erina was getting increasingly out of breath and tired as we climbed. And Although Guido had made her the campaign captain, for her experience in the field, he started asking Fred for his views, instead. I don’t know if that was because she was so out of breath, or simply as revenge for her punching him earlier.

When we got to the top of the ridge we had a great view of the battle and we could see lots of rats scurrying around the base of the keep, with other rats trying to bully them into joining the fight. We could see a number of mine entrances that had been dug to support the attack. And we saw lots of rat men climbing up the spiral steps that led to the keep’s entrance.

And we could see that a strange breach had been made in the keep’s wall that was glowing green, a bit like the strange tunnels we had seen in Unterfraus. And lots of rats were scrabbling to reach that, but it looked like it had been made too high for them. Hundreds of rat man corpses littered the ground and it was difficult to see how they might take the keep.

I scanned the scene with my telescope. Remember, mum, I had picked up that nice silver telescope at Castle Wittgenstein. It seems like ages ago, now. And I had never really found it useful until now. It gave a really good view of the battlefield, but I couldn’t get a decent view inside the breach.

And then I spotted a group of rats on a ridge on the other side of the valley, and they seemed to be checking out the scene, like we were doing. And they had a telescope and some other bits of equipment, and they seemed to be taking measurements and making notes, and even doing calculations. I gave the telescope to Guido for a look, and he was surprised that the rat men should be behaving in such a scientifically rigorous manner, and he got quite angry about it.

But then we heard a thunderous groan and the great doors to the keep opened, and out came a number of large, heavily armoured warriors wielding great weapons. They could have been human but it was hard to tell because they were so large, and so covered in their heavy armour. And as they sallied out, they cut a swath through the massed rat men, who scattered before them.

As the rat men began to run we considered that this might be our moment to try to get into the keep. We thought about disguising ourselves as rat men, and other plans. But in the end, mum, I think those armoured warriors looked too scary and we would have to deal with them even before we met any plague daemons. Then we decided we could try to intercept the rat scientists to see what they were up to, but they were on the opposite side of the valley.

So in the end we made our way back towards Blume. As we reached the end of our track we merged with the main track and there were a number of rat men fleeing along it, heading for the mine opening. When we reached the mine Blume was there, ready with her fuse. And we could see that the hole wasn’t big enough for all the fleeing rat men and some of them were continuing along the track towards the picket.

And then we saw one of the armoured warriors making its way towards the mine, massacring any rat men that got in its way, its armour covered with rat man blood. Blume decided this was the moment to light the fuse, hoping to catch the warrior in the blast as well. And Fred let the horses free, hoping they would find their way back to the picket.

We tried to hide from the warrior, but Erina, who was still tired out, was spotted and the warrior thing strode towards her. She quickly fired some magic at its helmet, blinding the thing. And Blume and I fired our pistols at it. We got some good hits on it, and foul blackish ichor dripped from the wounds we caused, but it still kept coming. So with the lit fuse, all the rat men, and the unstoppable warrior, we ran for our lives back down the valley.

We made our escape along side many of the rat men. We had time for a brief philosophical discussion about whether the rat men were chasing us, or we were chasing the rat men, but most of them were more concerned with getting away than with us. But occasionally they attacked us, and Erina got hit in the head with a sling shot, and was so stunned, Fred had to help her continue.

As we approached the picket the rats saw that there was no way out for them that way, and so they all scattered, scrambling up the sides of the valley. We found our horses waiting at the picket, and Emmiline gave the order for the gate to be opened and they let us through.

Fred went off to give his official report to Emmiline, and I think he was quite honest about it all and told he everything that had happened. Emmiline told him she would send a report to the Kaerzburdgers, and to the graf.

And I went to find the camp surgeon to get my belly wound seen to. I think I was very lucky not to have it split open again with all the running down the mountain I had been doing. And the camp surgeon proved to be very competent, I soon felt much better and the row of stitches on my belly is very neat, mum.

And Hildegund saw to Erina’s wounds. And while she was there, a scout came in and reported to her, and she said that she had been scouting up on the mountains during the battle, and before it began she had seen great green flashes erupt from a mountain to the south of Brass Keep and a few moments later they had hit the side of the keep and made a hole in it. She said it was like a beam of lightning had been shot from the mountainside. She said the lightning had come from a long way beyond the battle field, several day’s travel to the south.

While I was convalescing, everyone else went to see Degni, and they brought him the axe the rat man had attacked me with. Degni said that it was of proper dwarf manufacture, and the runes indicated it was made at Karak Skygg which was a lost dwarf hold a few days to the south.

Degni told them what little he knew of the Karak and said it was a largely unimportant outpost that had either fallen or been abandoned many years ago. Guido asked Degni if he knew of a guide who could lead us there, but Degni didn’t and said we should speak to Emmiline.

I think we all knew that we should head for Karak Skygg, next. Most of us were a bit beaten up, so we took it easy throughout the day in preparation for setting off first thing the next day. I wondered about the Krisstall of Immortalitee and whether the rat men had managed to get it from Brass Keep. I don’t think they did, but if they did, then it would be at Karak Skygg so we would have a chance of finding it there. And if they didn’t then I suppose it doesn’t really matter.

We got a map of the area and Erina copied the pertinent bits around Karak Skygg. One of the areas around the Karak was called Deff Batz. Hildegund told us that if we took the easier route then we might have to contend with goblins, and wyverns (whatever they are, mum) and trolls, but if we went the more dangerous route, there was less chance of us meeting them, but it would be a more hazardous journey.

Everyone was happy to give us advice about our journey, but no one volunteered to come with us. Degni said we should wrap up warm and get a good sleep. Thanks Degni. But he also gave us two of his best, largest bombs. And he told us to kill any goblins that we found in memory of his sister who lost her life to the greenskins a long time ago. He told us to be wary of their traps as they were rather cunning at making them.

Hildegund took Erina aside and told her that she wouldn’t say this to Sigmarites or dwarfs, but she believed that goblins could be bargained with especially for alcohol and the like. And she said that we should bring flammable stuff with us as that is the best way to combat trolls. But Erina is flammable stuff.

Tylik told us to take a spare meal with us. He meant that we should have a goat, so we could distract any trolls with it, while we made our escape. That sounded sensible, and as the way would be too steep for horses, we swapped our five horses for a couple of goats and a load of Kvass. And we strapped the Kvass (which is very flammable, mum) and the bombs to the backs of the goats. I don’t think they are going to make it back.

Hildegund also warned us about ethereal spirits haunting the mountains passes and poisonous snakes. So we stopped her there, as there is only so much advice you can take on board and the mountains were beginning to sound very dangerous indeed.

And we raided the stores for cold weather gear and ropes, and tents, until we felt we were adequately prepared for our journey.

While we were preparing, we heard a warning shout coming from the palisade, and we rushed up there to see what was happening. We saw a giant bloated insect buzzing along the valley, and when it got close to the palisade we could see that it was carrying some sort of robed figure. I think we finally got to see a proper plague daemon, mum. And the plague daemon dropped something into the stream, and it floated up to the palisade.

One of the soldiers stabbed the object with his halberd and fished it out of the stream, and we could see it was a giant rat head. The soldier put the head into a sack and set fire to it, which was probably the best thing for it.

At dinner we spotted the soldier who had fished the giant rat head out of the stream, and he was looking a bit peaky. It occurs to me, mum, that we might be leaving the picket at a good time. And I’ll let you know in my next letter how we get on up in the mountains.