The Enemy Within - Death on the Reik - part 2

The group contemplate upgrading their wagon

Here's the link to part 2 of our groups Death on the Reik playthrough.

We left the protagonists carting a noble passenger to Altdorf on their 'coach' service. A day or so earlier they had survived a river encounter with mutants where Joten the dwarf was nearly drowned by a tentacled monstrosity.

The PC's are Walter the halfling raconteur, Esmerelda the reluctant hedge mage, Solomon the halfling smuggler, Joten the dwarf sewerjack and Herdan the odorous gravewarden.

Key Points in part 2

• 2:14 Esmerelda deployed her secret mutant detection plan organising a communal bath at the first town they come across while on the road to Altdorf. During the bath she did her best to check her companions and fellow coach passengers for signs of mutation.
• 3:50 Local gossip was that Crown Prince Von Tessernick of Ostland and his expedition were killed in the Grey Mountains. 
• 17:00 Upon arriving in Weissbruck Joten and the group contemplated turning their wagon into a war wagon complete with blunderbuss array and small road clearing cannon. Sadly they did not have the funds to make Joten's dream a reality.
• 22:14 The thieves guild of Bogenhafen had tasked Solomon with delivering a list to Weissbruck's pharmacist Elvyra. Solomon and Walter set off to met her only to find her cottage had been broken into. There were signs of a struggle within. The watch was called.
• 31:00 Herdan had remained in the tavern. While finishing his breakfast he was accosted by two peddlers. One attempted to sell him pots while the second made odd signs. Herdan realised the signs identified the peddlers as part of a secret society. Herdan contemplated killing them but instead insisted that they had him confused with someone else. 
• 39:00 Searching the cottage Walter and Solomon discovered a 'secret door' behind a cupboard. They waited for their companions to arrive and heaved the cupboard aside. Beyond was a young girl called Liza who desperately tried to escape. Esmerelda calmed her down and they learnt the girl had heard a scuffle but nothing of real use. A thorough search of the house turned up a note that mentioned a 'red barn'.
  
• 79:30 The group learnt the location of the 'red barn' from the locals and Solomon gave it a reconnoitre. Walter and Esmerelda hid in the woods at the back of the barn in case Elyvra's kidnappers fled.
• 87:30 Herdan and Jotun forced the barn doors open. They confronted a guard whose "I am a simple farmer" story fooled no one. The guard bolted for the ladder to the loft with the group in cautious pursuit.

  

  The thugs who took Elvyra

• 92:45 Elvyra's kidnappers threatened to slit the pharmacist's throat unless the group left. Negotiations broke down and just as the lead ruffian motioned to do the deed he was struck on the shoulder by a sling stone courtesy of Solomon. Elvyra twisted free and leapt from the loft towards Herdan's outstretched arms. Herdan misjudged the distance and Elvyra landed awkwardly.
• 107:30 The sour faced leader fled, jumping from the loft out the back of the barn. Unfortunately for him Walter was waiting for just such a move and a sling stone to the cranium was his reward. The thugs head exploded like a rotten sausage. In the ensuing melee a single thug escaped into the woods.
• 118:30 Esmerelda tried desperately to save a crippled ruffian whose arm had been severed by the dwarf Joten. Alas, she failed to staunch the bleeding in time.
• 122:00 Elvyra explained that she was mixed up with a villain in Altdorf who had pressured her into supplying alchemical reagents for foul purposes. The kidnappers had been sent by this evil doer. The pharmacist offered them stock at a hefty discount as a reward. Solomon cleared her out of 'medicinal' black lotus with an eye towards turning a profit in Altdorf.
• 130:00 A search of the dead thugs uncovered 2 silver pendants in the shape of rats heads. Another secret society!
• 133:45 While shopping in Weissbruck Solomon exploited the haggling rules, selling the parties row boat for 150% its normal value. By way of justification it was pointed out that the row boat was the scene of the signing of an important treaty between the Elector of Ostland and the Elector of Middenland. It was no mere row boat but part of Imperial history!