Entry 11: The 16th Day of the 2nd Month of the Second Year of the Third Millennium     I have had opportunity in the past days to learn more of this new band of Marienburgers with whom we fought. They are known (by themselves) as "The pride of Marienburg", and they are the most arrogant, conceited individuals I believe I have ever met. However, they do claim loyalty - to they extent they can be loyal to anyone beyond themselves - to the Lady Magritte.     And it was through this group and another fledgling band of Reiklanders that I heard of an appearance in these parts of the infamous Rebelz, a Reikland warband of great repute. Without knowing what had drawn them back to this city nor what designs they had, we decided to join together to stand against this band.     We soon learned that the Rebelz had come back to hunt down a monster, for the treasure of a monster's lair was about the only thing worthy of their attentions. We gained information of our own about this beast - a youth of a dragon, lost from its kind, who had taken up in a seldom traversed neighborhood. We tracked the rumors of the Rebelz and congregated around the neighborhood as they drew near.     Before we knew it, three of the Rebelz had charged the dragon and slain it. They were powerful, indeed. However, we converged quickly to the center of town, where these three powerful warriors were. Our Reikland allies laid down fire cover for us and drew the fire of the Rebelz' Hochlanders. This allowed us to advance and fire at the three central warriors, one of whom Pierre took out of action. One of the warriors felled a dog of Henri's, but then the unexpected happened.     A burly warrior named Patrick - the one who knocked out our dog - strode forward and offered a deal. He was only interested in any artifacts of great power, should any be found. All other treasure they would let us have to split as we saw fit. After some hesitation, we took the deal, satisfied with having stood against the Rebelz. Indeed, having done more than stand against them, we intimidated them into offering a settlement and backing down.     While we were clearly the superior warband among our allies, we split the treasure equitably. We found in the monster's hoard 14gc, 2 shards of wyrdstone, 2 suits of light armor, a helmet, 2 swords, and a piece of jewelry. We took only 4gc and the jewelry for ourselves. Additional searching of the area turned up 4 shards of wyrdstone and a destroyed armorer's shop, in which we found 2 salvageable suits of heavy armor. We sold 3 shards for 55gc and the jewelry for 50gc. After paying the elf, this left us with 100gc and 1 shard of stone.     Henri was most pleased that the dog was able to recover from its wounds. Following the battle, I could sense my constitution having grown more hearty. Perhaps the fighting the in cold actually does one good - I know the Kislevites would agree with that claim. Gaston, Louis, Serge, and Henri seemed to have grown tougher, while the Life Guard and Jean have improved their shooting. Lenoloc has seemed to become less conservative with his bow - shooting now as quickly as I do. Undoubtedly, he could best me at will, though he seems to lower himself to our standards while among us. Henri has also gained in initiative - he's quite the precocious lad these days, though our band is the better for it.     Shortly after we had completed our brief dealings with the Rebelz, we learned of a rumor of a hidden house that used to belong to a wizard - only the rumor wasn't so certain of the "used to" part. There were rumors of wonderful, magical things in this place, and we immediately decided to make for it. We were met there by the two sets of Reiklanders and the Pride of Marienburg - who in their greed and arrogance were no longer an ally.     We were first to find the mansion and began exploring. We found the building to be tall, but to have only two walls still standing, with an extensive basement, where the goodies were. We found a wooden man with a set of switches. Lenoloc seemed to know how to flip the switches to activate this contraption to help serve to our defense. In the meantime, I had found a Holy Relic of Sigmar of a style favored by the Lady Magritte, already mounted on a chain, so I chose to take this and wear is around my neck. However, we were soon beset.     The Pride of Marienburg and we traded shots, though we had benefit of superior cover, and they were soon distracted by the Reiklanders to our left. We found the greatest threat to be from a band of Reiklanders who had spread out along the open sides of the mansion, all positioning themselves at elevation.     To this threat we had a Center Guardsman and a Marksman felled, though our champions soon responded - along with our other Guardsman and Lenoloc - by taking out 4 of this Reiklander's band. Shortly after this, the Reikland band routed.     Louis, Serge, Henri, and the dogs had been positioning themselves to pursue the Reiklanders to our left once their battle with the Pride of Marienburg had finished. When the Marienburgers routed, we charged, and in vicious combat took out 6 of their men before what little remained of them had routed.     We had sustained many wounds in this fight, but we found few to be missing. The marksman who fell was found lifeless, though the Center Guardsman returned. Overall, not a bad showing given the attention this mansion seems to have drawn.     Inside the mansion further searching uncovered 2 doses of mandrake root, 3 doses of crimson shade, 1 dose of healing herbs, a lucky charm, a Cathayan silk cloak, 8gc, 1 gem, and the prize - a Tome of Magick! Additional searching of the area uncovered 3 shards of wyrdstone and an old gunsmith's shop, in which we found a flask of most exceptional powder! We sold the stone for 55gc, the gem for 10gc, and the lucky charm to the gullible Reiklanders who had started on our open side for 20gc. After paying Lenoloc 20gc, this left us with 165gc and 1 shard of wyrdstone.     This total dropped later that day when we ran across a peddler - quite similar to the one we had found many months ago when we were dealing with our bout with lycanthropy. This peddler had excellent prices, so we stocked up, buying 2 sets of rope and hook, 2 helmets, a buckler, a shield, a crossbow, a bow, a hammer, a sword, a dueling pistol, 3 doses of dark venom, and another set of healing herbs. This cost us 108gc, leaving us with 57gc in our treasury.     After they had routed, we searched the area they had come from, finding 5 more shards of stone. More importantly, we also found another cache of prisoners to free. This time there was among them an experienced marksman who had the heart to join us.     We sold the 8 shards we had found that day for 110gc. After paying the elf, we bought equipment for the prisoner, and I found and purchased a blunderbuss for him as well, which allowed him to train effectively with the Pendulum's Arm. We also acquired a rope & hook for Louis and Serge. These things cost us 103gc. Gaston also found a halfling cookbook for 36gc. It seemed quite expensive for a set of recipes, but Lenoloc urged us strongly to buy it, saying our appetites - and thereby both our mental and physical health - would benefit greatly from its presence. This left us with only 15gc in our treasury, but also better equipped than we had been before.     I am heartened by our success in finding and freeing prisoners, we will have to continue this pursuit in the coming weeks. It does my heart well to believe we are doing something of value in this city so otherwise bereft of compassion.     I found that my shooting had improved, along with Gaston's - and that Henri's bladework had grown faster and more effective. My Life Guard seemed to become stronger through their toils in battle, and Louis began showing more initiative. Turn the page. Back to the previous page. Close the journal.