Whilst such an imposing group will cause some trepidation because of their status, they will also tend to assemble a group of followers happy to be protected by such a group.
Travelling with the PCs and the other hunters as far as Beeckerhoven are two other coaches. One is occupied by a halfling and his two bodyguards (also halflings), as well as a sour-looking upper middle class woman, a Sigmarite layman and a Four Season roadwarden.
The second coach has three Marienburg officials and a few merchants as passengers.
The third coach is occupied by Castian, Ludwig and Wigand, as well as the Verenan representative in the search for Stradovski, Hoffman Janitzer.
Lastly, there is a cart, driven by Mungo Madfoot, a halfling. This cart holds all the provisions of the hunting party.
The Middenheim-Erengrad road is of extremely variable quality. Within the political boundaries of The Empire, the surface is reasonably maintained. However, since the party is travelling so soon after the commencement of spring, it should be noted that little maintenance has taken place and the ravages of winter should be visible on the surface. For the coach and the cart, the journey will have a tendency to become rather bumpy.
The road surface is generally one of cobblestones, laid on a rubble base. Holes are frequently simply made up with rubble and detritus, and have a tendency to become unrepaired quite quickly. As far as Beeckerhoven, the roads can be considered as fair passage. They are the “official” four yards wide in most places, although road edgings are less maintained, and have frequently become overgrown or fallen away.
Toll houses are located adjacent to the coaching inns, partially for mutual protection and partially to try and discourage evasion. A low wall runs from the outer wall of the inn courtyard to the gate and from the gate to the outer wall of the yard. Toll keepers will check with the landlords to confirm all those who stay have paid their toll.
The toll, in principle, is the traditional charge of a Crown-a-leg. However, most travelers have some form of exemption based upon guild membership or fealty.
There are three possible stops for travellers within Arenburg, reflecting recent competition. The Four Seasons inn is fully booked, and Lothar's party retires for the night at The Toast to the North, a medium size coaching inn.
The next morning, there is a commotion outside the inn. The three coachdrivers and Mungo are discussing the condition of the road. Gottwin takes his horse and heads north, finding after a few minutes the source of their annoyance. The road has badly broken patches, and it is impossible for the coaches and cart to travel along it in this state. He soon is joined by the Sigmarite and Ulrican faction, who have unloaded their provisions of the cart and decided to travel further towards Beeckhoven on their own.
The rest of the day is spent in annoyance at the inn, while a roadcrew fixes the damage.
The next morning the coaches and carts are back on the road.
the next day they arrived at Beeckerhoven, a small walled town, although it is clear that the wall is neither well maintained nor built to withstand a modern siege. However, some work has been undertaken to strengthen the gatehouses by thickening walls, adding angles and building a skirting around the base. The town is unusual in that as a peculiar attempt to encourage trade there is no entry fee on persons or goods, but there is an exit fee.
Beeckerhoven has a small external caravanserai by the east gate that is particularly dilapidated, and has a warehouse for both the Graf and the Imperialist garrison. The former is rather better maintained, and Mungo will park the cart here whilst he arranges provisioning. He will stay here as well.
The party is deposited at the Four Seasons coaching inn, Four Seasons at Beeckerhoven, and are now left to their own devices.
first port of call is Caspar, who they find as he is closing up the Minter. He invited them to his house, where he explains what happened.
He met the Professor on the morning of 3 Nachexen at the Wolf Runner coaching inn. The Professor was desperate for passage, and the coach was full, there being so few passages at this time of year. Since he knew the Professor was a close friend of his master, he was willing to offer him his place on the coach. Caspar managed to book passage four days later.
A bit of prodding persuaded him to reveal that the Professor offered him money, 50GC, a very large sum of money for a spot on a coach...
The Minter
From there the group visited Manfred Teuschel, in his beautiful house in Schloss die Wiese,
an extremely expensive district adjoining the administrative district of the town.
Manfred acknowledges that the professor visited them, although the visit itself was rather a surprise. However, the Teuschels regard themselves as in the debt of the Professor for successfully treating Elfrieda Teuschel about two years ago of what she will describe as a lady’s condition. Manfred nods to his wife, and says that she efficiently took over, and quickly arranged for an additional place to be set for dinner, and for the Professor to groom his rather dishevelled appearance.
Elfrieda is an attractive looking woman, who appears to be rather younger than her husband is.
Further prodding into the condition the professor treated resulted in her being offended at the rude questioning, which took a bit of time to settle them down.
Neither can remember much about the night. Small talk was made. Manfred thinks that Stradovski looked suddenly relieved, but puts it down to a long journey. He said he had come on business, but the lateness of the coach meant he had missed his appointments. This seemed unlikely, for Elfriedahad had to travel to Middenheim to be treated, but was not pushed. The following day, Manfred had to be at work, but Elfrieda went into town with the Professor. She says that they made small talk, had lunch and then visited her husband. She cannot recall where they visited, but if specifically asked, she will recall that they visited the stables. Elfrieda recalls that the apprentice Beatrijs was rather rude to the Professor for some reason, and she had to take her to see Manfred. Manfred recalls this. Beatrijs denied doing anything wrong, but was beaten and sent back to work. Professor Stradovski stated that he was grateful for the hospitality, but was now required on urgent business. He left, and neither of them saw him again. This was late afternoon on the 8th Nachexen.
That night Beatrijs disappeared with a sizeable sum of gold from the strongbox.
Temple of Shallya A visit to the cult of Shallya , which has only one one cleric in Beeckerhoven and a few helpers, reveals the following: he does remember Beatrijs, for her mother died of malnutrition, and she was left on the streets. This was two years ago, the time she has been in the employ of the minter. They have not seen her since, but remember her as a sad, if bitter, girl.
Caspar Again
Caspar was paid a second visit, and questioned about Beatrijs. Caspar can add little to the Teuschel’s story in that regard, though he was aware that she was very unhappy about something. She was a good worker, and he was hoping that she would have been promoted despite her young age – she really was that good. He admits that he is hoping to set himself up as a Master soon, and Beatrijs’ promotion would have improved his prospects. Manfred does not seem to be quick to promote an Apprentice. One reason for his visit to Middenheim was to try and obtain a permit to work there on his own. He had considered taking Beatrijs.
The Western Gate
The western gate will recall that someone matching the Professor’s description left towards Salzenmund late afternoon on the 8th Nachexen. Given the time of year, there is little traffic and they well remember that three horsemen left in that direction within a relatively short space of time. The reason they remember is that they made 12 GCs in the exit tariff in half an hour, and that all twelve were brand new coins, clean and unspoilt. All three men were well wrapped up and they can only offer an “average” description, but they are fairly sure the first was the Professor. They can also advise the party that setting off so late would mean that the three could not reach an inn by evening. Offered a bribe or similar, one speculates that another of the figures (the third to leave) was likely Marx Khlesl since he re-entered the town on the afternoon of the day after (10th Nachexen). The guards have nothing particularly against Khlesl, but will warn PCs that he is a man “not to be
trifled with”.
The Stables
There is only one stable in town now that the garrison one has been sold off as outlined later, and it tends to do more business stabling than trading horses. The owner will remember the Professor well, for he sold the only horse he had, a poor one, at a nice profit. He will not recall mention of any destination, though he thinks it was a long journey since the Professor seemed to be well packed with food when he picked up his horse. Whilst no one was with him when he bought the horse, he also recalls that there was another rider across the street, also well packed, when he picked up the horse. He bought the horse on the morning of the 8th Nachexen, and picked it up in the late afternoon. The stable boy, Lugg, will happen to but in with a “Begging yer pardon Master” and mention that he overheard the Professor mention Salzenmund. The owner will restate his assertion, and that if they were going there they were “mightily funnily” overpacked.
Visiting the Watch
If asked about Beatrijs, the minter’s apprentice, the Watch will admit that they have failed to find the girl or the valuables.According to their records, 100GCs of gold bullion were stolen. This, the Serjeant points out, would not be easy to sell as bullion is an Imperial monopoly, and it is illegal to buy, sell or possess it without a licence. There was one witness who saw Beatrijs sulking about and made a statement to that effect;
this was a local merchant named Urs Huber.
It seems that Manfred and Beatrijs were having an affair. Manfred was besotted and rather foolish, offering the girl a simple opportunity to steal from him. Mrs Teuschel was simply happy to see the back of the girl, and the Watch was only too happy to please an important local citizen.
A visit to Urs Huber revealed little, apart from the fact that he had seen Beatrijs skulk around the Teuschel's home on the night the girl disappeared.
Some of the group spent some time in a disreputable inn, asking about Marx Khlesl. The ambiance turned dark quickly, to the point that a fight seemed likely to erupt. Ludwig slid a gold coin across the bar, which seemed to defuse the situation promptly. Directions were given to an old and abandoned stable, formerly used by the garrison.
They visited and observed the ex-military stable. Careful entry and search revealed a number of shovels, a few crates holding a few hand weapons, some benches with a lot of glassware set up, resembling some kind of alchemical lab. They also find an assortment of papers on herbalism and pharmacy, amongst which are a set of written instructions (to Khlesl, written by a woman) to prepare provisions for the Professor for a trip to Ferlangen and a letter from someone signed K confirming that “the agreed arrangements have been made”. The letter, sealed with the seal of the Ferlangen
Merchants’ Guild, is in a waxed envelope sealed with a Four Seasons Coaches mark and counter-stamped Ferlangen to Beeckerhoven in both words and town crests.
Back to the Minter
A second visit allowed them to have a personal chat wit Alfred, the minter's manservant. Without saying much, he was able to shed light on a few things. No, his master did not have an affair. Yes, the lady had been ill, but he didn't know anything more about that. The lady was looking a lot better now than she used too, healthier and younger. He also revealed that the lady had left earlier that morning, and that he hadn't seen her since. A quick look around the house showed that she had packed, in a hurry.
The group visited the north gate and their suspicions were confirmed: the Minter's coach had left through the gate that morning, accompanied by a number of horsemen.
The group quickly returned to the inn, packed their belonging and convinced Mungo to leave Beeckerhoven, even though it was already noon, and it would be well past nightfall before they'd reach the first coaching inn...
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