1×10: The Shadow Rising

• The Watch squad re-enters the sewers and make their way to where Sören is expecting to find Sergeant Klumpenklug’s body. Instead, they find a blood trail and follow it to the spot the goblin entered.
• There they discover what looks to be Klumpenklug holding a man over the effluent. Upon their approach, the thing wearing Klumpenklug’s flesh suit tears off the man’s head and throws it at them where it explodes. The false Klumpenklug explodes into shadows and disappears.
• Coppertong is forced to enter the effluent to retrieve a box containing the real Rudi Klumpenklug’s body (now on fire).
• Back at the barracks, Sergeant Überraschung hides the body, then tasks them to visit Klumpenklug’s home in the Artisan’s Quarter … which he should not be able to afford.
• They are forced to break in and eventually discover a chained up thief in the cellar several of them recognize from their first day on the job. Alette Zimmermann claims to be an innocent vitim in all this, though the evidence does appear to indicate that before his death, the real Klumpenklug was organizing a big heist in the Adel Ring.
• Outside, they are surrounded by stevedores who order them (in a creepy voice) to leave or be destroyed. The squad (and Alette) return to the barracks.
• The following morning, there is an assembly and the captain introduces his new lieutenant, Wendale Gormann, who is going to be taking over. Worse, the squad are reassigned to the northern barracks in the Pit which everyone calls Fort Blackfire! Sergeant Überraschung tells them to keep digging if they can while she pokes around here.
• The squad gather their gear and depart, with Christoph realizing he has the same weird feeling around Gormann that he had around the thing in the sewer last night. They cross the river via a ferry and enter the Pit, then start heading toward the barracks.
• But suddenly, lunatics attack!

GM Notes:

• Very late recap. My bad.
• Nosh is still unavailable due to work
• The sewer stuff was a mess and it’s all my fault. I did a terrible job of explaining the environment, then stupidly got a little annoyed when the players were confused.
• I actually expected the PCs to fight the initial band of mind-controlled stevedores, but they surprised me again.
• I’ve also noted that this group is really reactive so … I suspect the Evil Plan that grognards are familiar with is going to succeed…