Nuriel looks around and says
- “I think I know, no, I know where it is, Yael was with me, and so was another of Zariel’s general, Haruman, and the sword, we put it into the ground, we gave everything to it, I gave…”
- Looking down at a fracture in him
- “I put a little bit of myself in it and a great fortress appeared but something went wrong, something corrupted it, growing over it. I don’t remember what happened to Yael, although Haruman was with me. I think I remember the mound the fortress was in – a huge hill on the bank of the River Styx. A huge structure. That’s where it is.”
Vigil remembers these people from Hellrider legends and asks Nuriel if there is anything else they know to help them
- The party finds a “Haruman’s Hill” on the map near the river Styx
- Confronting Maggie with the map, she notes that they are on the wrong side of the river
They hear a clanging noise, an alarm
- Maggie curses and they head out to find out what is happening
- The alarm is coming from the gatehouse, Guts emerges from a hut – he’s been trying to fashion a badge on his redcap, he sets it aside and runs to join the fray
- Eliseo runs after and shins up the ladder to the gate house; meanwhile Maggie just runs up the wall and lands atop
- In the distance he can see a red cloud of dust approaching along the ground
- Hayate joins them and asks Maggie if she’s expecting guests
- “It’s one of the rival warlords, I expect”
- From the dust cloud emerge warmachines
- Maggie mutters, “Haven’t had a fresh batch since the last attack we repelled. Look, I’m not sure I have the strength to repel another attack, I’d appreciate your aid in fending these off. She offers several of her own warmachines and fuel in payment.
Atop the largest Warmachine is a Wereboar wielding a large axe – Raggadragga
- Riding the other warmachines are a number of wererats
- Eliseo and Marco commandeer the ballistae on the wall and open fire on several smaller 2-wheeled warmachines
- These rush forward and plant metal ramps along the walls before others launch themselves over the wall into the camp
- The larger warmachine fires a barrel at the gatehouse which explodes in purple fire
- To avoid the fire Vigil jumps from the gatehouse and tries to intercept one of the warmachines, but misses
- Strum creates a hypnotic pattern causing two of the machines to crash into each other head on
- As Hayate, Marco and Eliseo fend off the Wererats the largest vehicle crashes into the gatehouse and its passengers rush into combat with the redcaps
- Vigil boards the vehicle and charges at Raggadragga as Strum Shatters it to pieces
- The Party is able to defeat the remaining were creatures and finish off Raggadragga but in the process Hayate is bitten by a wererat
- From Raggadragga they collect a magic maul
In exchange for their victory, the party selects a large ‘Demon Grinder’ and a buggy like ‘Tormentor’
- Maggie provides 4 soul coins and 2 vials of demon ichor
- Each coin can power a vehicle for 24 hours
- Demon Ichor can be used to boost them but at the risk of engine problems
- Maggie insists that her imp, Needles, joins them as her eyes
Hayate’s wound is strange and he is not looking healthy