The Pandemonium Carnival
Castle%20Grauenberg.png
Castle Grauenberg

Corvas,
Meet me at Schieffelen on the road to Grauenberg.
You will not believe what is here.
I need your advice.
Ludolph


Wolfgang

Receiving a strange note from Ludolph, Corvas travels by river to the town of Schieffelen. Ludolf awaits him here at the Lightning Staff inn, puzzled by an Articles of Magic conundrum. Nearby the town the 'Pandemonium Carnival of Eccentricities' is opening displaying beastmen in cages. Fearful of corruption Ludolf did not linger for long but is fairly sure the beastmen had been experimented on. Some beasts even seem to be playing along to the show responding to cues while others bear chaos sigils.

Visiting the next morning Ludolph and Corvas, in disguise as a bounty hunter 'Gustav', visit the carnival. They hear that it has been "sanctioned by the Emperor himself" and eventually discover it is run by a Gold Wizard by the name of Wolfgang Hollseyer. Ludolf speaks to the man at length about magic while Corvas discovers that a ring stolen from Teugen in Bogenhafen wards his magical abilities to outsiders. Corvas remains outside and chats to the strange occupants of the festival, including a dwarf who is a descendant of the famed Bugman brewing family.

Within his cabin Ludolph discovers that Wolfgang has a legitimate charter to travel with beastmen in order to "display monstrosities for the education of the people". Although bearing the Emperor's seal it is signed by Master Guggenheimer of the Gold College, not the Emperor himself. Wolfgang is an obsessive researcher, taking detailed notes on the other wizarding colleges as well as a myriad of other topics. He boasts of an alliance with a witch hunter named Steele and of his connections throughout the Empire. He shares some of experimental data with Ludolph and although he takes note of how this could advance his own research Ludolph is disgusted by the loss of life and brutality of Wolfgang's experiments.

Back in the Staff Corvas and Ludolph discuss Wolfgang's possible connections to other cults, including the mysterious Purple Hand. They plan to kill or capture the man but on the way back to the carnival spot men with crossbows waiting in ambush. Smashing the unaware men down Ludolph lets off an improbable one-handed crossbow shot that takes another man from his horse. As he is hit he lets fly a hand crossbow that embeds a quarrel in Corvas' stomach. The man is Inquisitor Steele, witch hunter and ally of Wolfgang. Stripping and interrogating the man the pair discover he is a legitimate witch hunter, trapping the pair for "re-education" and the hands of his "master". He expires and is dumped in a nearby river, Ludolph now proudly riding his horse.

Arriving at the carnival the pair find Wolfgang has escaped, taking almost all of his research with him. Ludolph pockets the remaining journals while Corvas takes a case with four strange green-tinted vials in it. Ludolph manages to catch Wolfgang's unique scent on the winds of magic, a mixture of iron and rot that permeates the cabin, and the pair agree to pursue him.


Conundrum

Negotiating the tense standoff with the Pandemonium carnies, Corvas drags Ludolph back to the stolen horse and they gallop off in pursuit of Wolfgang. Leaving the wagons behind, they travel the leaf-strewn Bogenweg, where Malahan appears unexpectedly. Acting again as liaison between the pair of wizards and the hidden elven settlements of the Reikwald, he guides them north towards Grauenberg Castle. Unbeknownst to the wizards, Malahan gives a subtle but cautious berth to the Old Bögenauer Temple.

They reach the foot of a towering riverside fortress after an exhausting march. A muster is afoot, the Graf Wilhem von Saponatheim preparing a rare sally out from his stronghold to reassert control of Bögenhafen. The docks and village swarm with peasant levies and mercenaries who will be used to enforce the manoeuvre. Sure that Wolfgang is hiding among the Graf's men, the wizards come across Stefano of the Condottieri de Bologna. He is pursuing a bounty on a deserter from his company. Remembering their last bloody confrontation, Ludolph is hostile to the Tilean until he reveals that their old friend Luther de Baptiste is alive and well in a senior position with the 'Spaghetti Corps'. While Corvas is finally seen by a surgeon, the Tilean and Strigany woodsman make peace and agree to aid each other. A chest leaking fumes of Chamon leads the party to the paymaster's tent, where a huge sum of alchemical gold has been paid to purchase the protection of four Von Saponatheim Halberdiers. Expertly seeding rumours of a beastman pack on the Trosreut Road, Corvas secures passage upriver ahead of Wolfgang. On a hair trigger, the wizards endure the spitting rain just outside the Duchy of Midwald, until Wolfgang's carriage finally appears.

Overturned by Stefano's bomb, the carriage spills out halberdiers. They are immediately choked in Ulgu and struck down by lightning, but the wizards rein in their ambush when Wolfgang emerges. Putting up no fight, he argues that he did his lawful duty by turning them over for execution by the Witch Hunter. He is puzzled that Steele did not ask them to show licenses, and denies all knowledge of the Purple Hand conspiracy. The wizards are momentarily at a loss, when Wolfgang asserts his famous Gold Order Patriarch Bathasar Gelt had authorized the horrific experiments. Having been charged with malfeasance himself, Ludolph ponders dragging him all the way to Altdorf to make a formal charge, but Corvas can plainly foresee the outcome. While Ludolph ties himself in knots to find evidence against Guggenheimer, Wolfgang snaps that his experiments had furthered arcane knowledge at the negligible cost of a few orphan children. With characteristic calm, Corvas slices his throat. They are disappointed to find no hidden tattoo on the corpse, parting ways at the rainy crossroads.


Dramatis Personae

Ludolph - Beast-Wizard tracker.
Corvas - Enigmatic Shadow-Wizard and spy.
Malahan - Elven archer.

Wolfgang Hollseyer - Gold Wizard and 'Pandemonium Carnival' owner. [Executed]
Magnus Bugman - Dwarven loremaster travelling with the carnival.
Inquisitor Steele - Witch hunter, ally of Wolfgang. [Attempted to ambush wizards]
Cpl. Stefano - Tilean sharpshooter from the Condottieri de Bologna.
Luther de Baptiste - Foreign duelist and Lt. of the Tilean mercenaries.

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