151 THE HORNED RAT – KARAK SKYGG 0 What do you… ‘Silence! Clever-smart, you-things. Creep-creep, get inside, hidehide, no one see. Gnaw something here, burn something there. But plan still good. Maliss servants collect warp-stone from everywhere. Big-big amount of Warpstone spent, but spent to get the biggest chunk Warpstone. Know green moon? Yes-yes. Morr-libb, you-call. Fear-fear. Good-fear, too — Morr-libb kill-kill this-night. Soon.’ Not if we… ‘Quiet mouth man-thing! Quiet or we hold it and stop you breathing! Morr-libb Warpstone — you know, yes? Yes. All-same Warpstone. Good-good Skaven, bad-bad you-things. Kill-you, twist-you, yes. Soon-soon Morr-libb break. You-things all-die. Great Horned One smile! Smile on Maliss.’ As you can see, they won’t get much sense from Maliss. You can use his ranting to fill in any gaps in the party’s knowledge of his plans. If they meet him after sabotaging, destroying the Moonbreaker Cannon, or delaying the shot after Morrslieb’s passing, he doesn’t say much other than scream — and he gains the Frenzy trait. MOONSTRIKE! What happens if Maliss gets close to success? As Morrslieb drifts into sight above the Moonbreaker, the bell tolls 13 times as small adjustments are made to the cannon’s alignment. The tanks of Warpfuel begin to bubble and glow as electricity sparks and charges the weapon. Maliss, now so close to his plan being fulfilled, is agitated, peering at the moon and then at a lever he has to hand — this conducts a burst of Warp energy from his chamber to the firing mechanism, starting the reactions which fire the gun. If it comes to this, the adventurers now have only moments before the weapon fires its volleys at Morrslieb. As the weapon begins to charge, even more electricity sparks and lighting crackles. The Players need to kill Maliss before he pulls the lever. If they attack, Maliss pulls the chain at his wrist to summon Three-Eyes who arrives after two turns. If the fight is going badly for the party, you can introduce Brokenclaw. Zingetail’s agent will appear, taking shots with his Dart Ejector at Maliss. He cares for nothing but killing Maliss, and will try to escape once this is done, swiping plans from the Map Room before he goes. If the party defeats Maliss, Three-Eyes and the Stormvermin, they can investigate his chambers. A peculiar artefact is amongst the papers, charts and purloined books. A small goldbacked hand mirror is being used as a paperweight, but when a Character looks into the glass they see another pair of human eyes looking back at them — not their own. The glass shatters immediately and the eyes disappear. They won’t discover this until Empire in Ruins, but the mirror was an enchanted spying artefact employed by one of the Nine Eyes of Tzeentch. What happens to the Moonbreaker Cannon? If the Players leave the gun intact, there’s a risk that Brokenclaw will seize it for his master Zingetail. If Hetri or Janna are there, they insist that the cannon is destroyed — either by sabotage, explosives or Janna casting T’Essla’s Arc to detonate the fuel tanks. It’s very likely that any cause of action will make the cannon explode. If the Moonbreaker Cannon detonates under any circumstances, it sends a searing hot blast through the upper strata of Karak Skygg. Unless they’re some distance from the explosion or shielded in some way, the Characters all take 1d10+4 damage, modified by Armour but not Toughness. If they’re very close to the Cannon, they’ll only survive by spending a Fate Point. Throughout the upper parts of the Hold, Skaven are incinerated in their hundreds, and survivors scramble to escape the Hold in terror. The vats in the refineries explode in turn, blowing a huge hole in the side of the mountain. What happens if Maliss succeeds? If the Characters fail to stop Maliss, the Moonbreaker fires a great jolt of warp lightning towards Morrslieb. Witnesses watch as the Chaos Moon seems to reel like a living creature as energy sparks and leaps over its surface. Then there is a great explosion as the southern pole of the moon shatters into thousands of warpstone meteors. All round Karag Skygg the Skaven squeal in victorious delight. Shards of warpstone trailing green fire plunge through the sky, raining down on the Old World. They largely scatter across the peaks and valleys of the Middle Mountains, but many of them fall down amongst the trees of the Forest of Shadows. A swathe of northern Ostland is reduced to an uninhabitable warpstonetainted nightmare and a particularly large stone turns the town of Ferlangen into a hellhole reminiscent of the fate of forlorn Mordheim. Veterans of Death on the Reik are aware of the malign effect a single warpstone meteor can have on a region. Maliss has scattered scores of much larger meteors around the Middle Mountains. The Skaven celebrate Maliss as a genius, and prepare to scour the wasteland that is now northern Ostland for the supreme bounty of warpstone it will yield to them. It’s carnage. The party needs to get out of there.
152 0 WARHAMMER FANTASY ROLEPLAY ESCAPE TO VICTORY Escaping Karak Skygg is easier than getting in — the panicking Skaven are not particularly interested in humans leaving unless they get in the way. There are several routes out: Down the side — the winches and pulleys on the sides of the mountain are perhaps safer than the exploding interior. With a little cunning and a head for heights, they can be employed in a similar manner to the Middenheim Chair Lifts. The Gate of Grungni — Skaven are surging through the main entrance and the party can join them. If they are willing to race through the Hold, past burning Skaven, through collapsing tunnels and down to the Entrance Hall, they will need to fight through d10 Clanrats to get out. The Outflow — by the time the party reaches the Pit at the bottom of the Hold, the slaves have escaped. This is the safest way out of Karak Skygg. END IN SIGHT With the destruction of the Moonbreaker Cannon, Maliss dead and Karak Skygg ablaze, the Characters are stranded in the Middle Mountains in the dark of the night, with bands of terrified Skaven fleeing the area. It’s also freezing cold. Depending on how the events of the previous chapter played out, the Charactersare looking up at a clear night sky illuminated by the grimacing orb of Morrslieb, or possibly looking up at a sky filled with fireballs as warpstone meteorites rain down on Middenland. But soon a pinprick of light from the east grows bigger, intermittently flaring, before appearing closer as something rather miraculous — a dirigible — bearing the Todbringers’ livery. NEED A LIFT? Seeing the adventurers trapped on the mountainside, likely waving for help, Baron Heinrich Todbringer drops an anchor down from his dirigible, bellowing down to the party, ‘Who are you! What has happened here?’ If you have played through the events of The Power Behind the Throne, the Characters may have learnt that Heinrich has travelled to Wolfenburg to play diplomat and peacemaker in Talabecland and Ostland. They perhaps have heard a description of this bastard son of Boris Todbringer, or even seen a painting of Heinrich. The towering noble is not alone in his balloon, as he is accompanied by the equally massive Veiran Thugenheim. The light from the blasts of hot air reflects off Veiran’s armour and, and reveals his decorations as a member of the Knights Panther. Heinrich asks about the huge explosion they’ve just seen. If the Characters satisfy the initial questions (take a Challenging (+0) Charm Test for the Character doing most of the talking, reduced to Average (+20) if the Characters provide plausible or compelling answers), the dirigible descends to the mountain so that the discussion can continue — Heinrich will not leave people to die in the mountains. However, Heinrich is suspicious of everyone, especially given his knowledge of human cultists who work for the Skaven. If Janna Eberhauer is with them, the Charm Test is not necessary. With the dirigible moored, Heinrich continues to question the party, and any evidence they have to back up their claims. All the while Heinrich is questioning the adventurers, Veiran will lean in to whisper in Heinrich’s ear, shooting a glare at the party before walking back and forth on the deck of the dirigible, clearly annoyed by the delay in their journey. Ending the Adventure Empire in Ruins, the final part of The Enemy Within, carries on directly from this point. If you plan on seeing the campaign through to its thrilling conclusion be sure to get your hands on that volume to find out what happens next. Rewards Good roleplaying and clever thinking should be rewarded, but there are additional XP for the following: Y 200 points and 1 Fate Point for preventing the Moonbreaker from firing Y 80 points for slaying Maliss Manrack Y 20 points for rescuing Hetri Bittercrag Y 20 points for rescuing Janna Erberhauer THE LAST WORD It is intended that Characters who survive the events of The Horned Rat immedaitely make their way to Middenheim on Baron Heinrich’s balloon. With the Skaven dealt with the political turmoil which has thus far been confined mostly to rumours and minor events will take centre stage. Ideally, you will have Empire in Ruins to hand when your group finishes this part of the campaign. However, if this is not the case you may wish to allow your Characters time to travel and partake of other adventures for a time before diving into the final part of The Enemy Within. If so, try to have your Characters end up somewhere that Baron Heinrich’s balloon might plausible find them once you are ready to dive back in. Once aboard, the Baron will carry them off towards Middenheim and into the final thrilling chapter of The Enemy Within.
DECLARATION OF CHANGE SEEKERS AFTER TRUTH WILL SEEK IN VAIN THE AR C H I TECT OF FATE HOLDS OUT 1 HAND BUT HE OPENS 9 EYES My Dear Marshal. Your errant Magister is now my guest. I should think 1,000 GC would be a sufficient bounty to have him handed over in return for our hard work in capturing such a dangerous individual. When you are ready to make payment, let Half-Nose know. Words reaching his ears soon reach mine. Regards, a Low King RKCAH NAOWZAO JKS WP OEYPU AECDP OECEOIQJZSAC EJ KOOPKN. JK KJA DANA GJKSO KB PDAI. SA ZAWH EJ YKHZ XKZEAO KJHU! U’CCNEHR PGWG PVAAJPYD! REVEAN XDWN IKP EFGHIJK LMNOPQR ZABCD Herr Komissioner, We know your true heritage. If you wish to keep your secret, be at the Heaven’s Lament tonight after midnight, ask for Herr Gelb. Bring Dagmar Wittgenstein’s diaries with you! Your correspondent, Herr Gelb
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EJOPNQYPEKJO U’CCNEHR PGWG WYGJKSHAZCA WJZ WSWEP YKNLOAO JAAZAZ BKN NAOAWNYD. KLANWPEKJO NAOQIA EIIAZEWPAHU RKCAH. DWRA WOOQIAZ YKIIWJZ. PVAAJPYD! REVEAN XDWN IKP PDA PQJJAH ZSAHHANO LANBKNI SAHH. OKKJWBPAN SKNZ KB PDA ZAWPD LNEJYAPDAU LNAOAJPAZ PK IA WJZ YWLPQNAZ PDA CENH. XQP SDU PDAOA KPDAN WXZQYPEKJO? LHAWOA WZREOA. XG A Publicke Demonstration by Professor Eunice Hasche, revealing the Anatomie of two recently acquired examples of a Species hitherto UNKNOWN To SCIENCE – Rattus Homunculus free to all of a c urious di spo sition At the Theatre of Anatomy, the Collegium Theologica. Doors open at noon on Festag.
A Publicke Demonstration by Professor Eunice Hasche, revealing the Anatomie of two recently acquired examples of a Species hitherto UNKNOWN To SCIENCE – Rattus Homunculus free to all of a curious disposition At the Theatre of Anatomy, the Collegium Theologica. Doors open at noon on Festag. 1. UNTERFRAUS Temple of Ulric 2. The Stone 3. The Pick and Shovel 4. The Barn 5. The Mine 6. Foundry 7. Miners Cottages 8. Turnip & Cabbages 9. Farms 10.Cattle Enclosure 7 5 6 8 8 9 9 9 9 10 4 1 2 3 Amadeus Tonkunst. Rare libretto. The Royal College of Music. See Music Director Otmar Zufall’s residence, Geldmund. Antique art. Astronomical research notes. Dr Isidore Kopernik, Freiburg. See Brother Schlager. Temple of Ulric, Lore House. Rare book. Librarian Agnise Fuensterburg. Rare books. Collegium Theologica library.
Second Stratum Third Stratum Fourth Stratum
Below Earth First Stratum
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