Entry 9: The 30th Day of the 12th Month of the First Year of the Third Millennium     This is the last entry of the year in my journal, and I suspect it will be last for some time, for winter has now come upon this town in a noticeable way, and I wish to not be in it - too many odd things exist here for me to desire knowledge of how a winter storm would manifest itself. I also seek to spend more time with a newfound companion of some wisdom and great lore, but I am getting ahead of myself, for there is much to tell of the fortnight or so since I last wrote in this journal.     Almost two weeks past now I came upon a band of Skaven I had not met before. Is there no end to these creatures?! These seemed to be excessively foul as they were constantly scratching. However, they seemed intent on getting past us, and we did not particularly feel like accommodating them, so we took up defensive positions, stretched a bit across the town. Henri, the Center Guard, and the Life Guard took up positions on the left side, with Jean, Gaston, Louis, Serge, and the Pendulum's Arm on the right.     The skaven on the left flank charged us. We engaged them quickly, and found two of our men downed, though we matched them by felling a pair of the charging skaven as well. On the right flank, we charged them and took out a Black Skaven, after which this band quickly routed. These were not the bravest of rats, though their fighting was both fierce and deadly, for we lost both of the men who fell in combat. Afterwards, we were able to 5 shards of stone, which we sold along with the remaining 2 we had in our stores. This brought us 110gc, 60 of which was used to hire and equip another member of the Life Guard. It is fortunate that our inquiries were so recent and we were able to find another acceptable candidate. Our inquiries also bore fruit in another way. We found a trained war dog available for 33gc, and we quickly purchased it - placing it into Henri's care.     That night, I found someone sitting next to me after dinner at our camp. I had not noticed him come, nor heard any sounds. When I noticed him, I started - and reached for my spear in defense - but the stranger told me in a lilting, calm voice to have no fear. It was then that I noticed it was an elf. I had heard my grandfather talk of elves, though I didn't remember ever seeing one.     The elf introduced himself as "Lenoloc" and said he was one who traveled far and who knew me. We spoke at length as he described his friendship with my grandfather - and his great respect for him - and of his visits, for it appeared he had known me as an infant. He spoke of my father and how they had little to share, and so he visited not as I grew. He told me he had seen the wisdom of my grandfather in me - as well as the greed and pragmatism of my father - but that the former gave him enough hope to pursue contact.     It appeared the elf wished to remain with our band for some time, and to perhaps teach us - or at least me - secrets that we had not known before. I was both skeptical and intrigued, and in the end my curiosity won out. I introduced Lenoloc to the other members of our band, and invited him to stay with us a while. I think the other members were also a bit skeptical about having to split the gold we found another way, but there was a presence about the elf that stifled any questions about his ability to prove worthy in battle. And so we accepted another companion.     Just a few days later, still over a week past now, we had just finished searching an area in which we had found 3 shards more of wyrdstone when we found ourselves confronted with the same scratchy band of skaven.     We took up a strong position in a large building across a wide street from where we first noticed them. We soon saw rats approach our building trying to sniff us out, while other remnants of the skaven began to flank us. Serge, Louis, Henri, and our dog sensed a presence behind us and went in pursuit of two skaven they saw skulking there. In the meantime the Pendulum's Arm let loose with their blunderbusses. One of them did great harm to all the rats - taking 2 out and phasing almost all the rest. The other marksman shot through one of the rats - with no affect - into the building in which most of the skaven were concentrated. It was clear from the howls within that the shot had done great damage. Shortly afterwards the skaven ran.     This band of skaven has again seemed most cowardly. Lenoloc told us that is simply the skaven way. When we mentioned the one band of skaven from which the horrible diseases had come, he seemed to know of this band and that their way was not normal. Later, when we were searching the area held by the skaven, Lenoloc directed us to a trap door leading to a cellar. Here we found a band of prisoners, which we set free. We asked among them if there were any with skill at arms and the heart to join a band, and one responded. He met our tests as an excellent swordsman, and we equipped him as a member of the Center Guard.     We also found 5 shards of wyrdstone, which we sold along with 2 of the 3 we had started with, gaining us 110gc. After giving the elf 20gc, spending 40gc to equip the converted prisoner, this left us with 87gc and one shard of stone.     As our current members took no real wounds in the encounters of the last few days, we have had much time to train. I have noticed that Jean and Gaston have both been learning how to work their pistols in tandem and fire them both at once. Serge has learned to attack even more quickly with his sword, and Louis has learned how to jump up from any blow that knocks him down - so well that you might swear he had never been knocked down to start with. Henri has learned to sprint as fast as Serge and Louis, and our new Life Guard has learned to attack as effectively as the Center Guard. As for me, I have been quickening the rate at which I can shoot my crossbow. I think somewhere in the back of my mind that I am perhaps trying to impress the elf, and I think that perhaps he knows it and is amused, though neither his speech nor his action indicate this.     The frost is now fully upon this land, and our band is unanimous in its desire to retire to greener pastures until most of the cold weather has passed. We will now head out of Mordheim at least to the outskirts where comfortable lodging can be obtained for the winter. There I will talk at length with Lenoloc, and with all my men, and when we are ready we shall return. Turn the page. Back to the previous page. Close the journal.