Rudiger In Untergarde
His hair plastered to his face in the soot-laden rain, Rudiger crawled cautiously toward the edge of the second story floor of the ruined building thatwas his current hiding place.
For the last nine days he had been dodging bands of beastmen, moving from one ruined building to another, terrified of discovery. Now there was no sign of the brutes, and he heard human voices. From his position lying on the floor of some burger's bedroom floor, he looked out through the gaping wound in the wall caused by one side or the other's war-engines, and observed a group of men in soldier's uniforms walking between the ruined buildings.
"When are we moving out Sarge?" he heard one of the soldiers say in a low voice that carried anyway.
"When we get orders to, Baldric, and not before."
"Surely the Captain must have said something about what's up?"
"All's I know is that he got word Middenheim took a pounding, but the siege has lifted. The Dwarfs got called forward to rejoin the Emperor's army, and I imagine we will too, once we make sure there's no beasties left here."
"How bad a pounding Sarge? I've got family in Middenheim," said another of the soldiers, this one with a Middenland accent.
"Don't know for sure, but I heard that Southgate took the worst of it. Now shut yer yaps and open yer eyes so we can finish this patrol alive!" Rudiger slipped back into the shadows and let the men pass.
If Southgate really was hit hard, then there was a good chance that the people who wanted himarrested weren't even alive anymore. If they were, it should be easy enough to slip away again in the confusion if he had to. In any case, anything was an improvement over what he'd gone through since leaving the city!
Moving back through the town, Rudiger made his way to its center where the river splitit in two. He looked across to see people gathering in the remains of the townsquare.
Carefully he made his way to and across the bridge without anyone noticing him, and moved to the edge of the crowd. He began listening to the talk of the villagers, asking a few questions of his own when necessary.
He learned that while he had been hiding in the east side of town, the villagers and Imperial troops had been defending the west side. They had finally driventhe beastmen back out of the town entirely.
The troops had moved on in pursuit, leaving the village survivors to pick up the pieces. Most of those survivors were now gathered here in the square to listen to their leader, Captain Gerhard Schiller.
"People of Untergarde" he began, "this is a glorious day. I have received a letter from Count Todbringer of Middenheim. The Old Wolf still lives and the city of Middenheim stands strong!"Rudiger waited to hear what else the Captain had to say about Middenheim, but he gave no further details about the city, only congratulations to the villagers. He began to tune out the Captain when he reached into a sack and produced a loaf of bread and a bottle of wine, "We were honored to receive thirty loaves of bread and a dozen bottles of wine, straight from Middenheim!
"Now that was interesting. Rudiger hoped he could get some of that for himself. He had only had scraps and the occasional rat for the past 9 days. That bread looked divine. Suddenly the bottle of wine the Captain held shattered, spraying him with wine, followed quickly by a loud crack!
Rudiger's mind identified the noise as the sound of a firearm as the crowd came to the same conclusion and scattered in panic. Looking for cover, he spotted a nearby pileof rubble and quickly threw himself behind it. Once he felt safely covered by the rubble he surveyed the area.
Most of the villagers were scattering away from the bridge, but he noticed three men making their way towards it. One had the look of a woodsman, and he had stopped at another pile of rubble across from Rudiger's position, readying a longbow. The other two were running towards the bridge. One of them was dressed in vestments with the symbol of Sigmar. The other was wearing armor and pulling a sword.
Rudiger didn't have time to take in any more details before his eyes caught sight of a band of beastmen charging towards the bridge from the other side!Rudiger reached for his crossbow, but even as he did so he realized that the two men at the bridge could not hope to hold it on their own. They would be surrounded and dragged down, but three men could form a wall that would prevent the beasts from bringing their numbers to bear.
Rudiger looked around hastily, hoping to see that third man, but the woodsman was already shooting his bow, and did not appear to be moving forward, and the rest of the people were moving away from the bridge, not towards it.
He could not even see the Captain anymore.With a quick prayer to Ranald, Rudiger drew his sword and dagger and ran to the bridge, stepping up beside the armored man just as the beastmen reached them. The rest of the fight passed in a blur as Rudiger did his best simply trying to keep from being skewered by the spear of the beast in front of him.
Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity, the other men managed to bring down three of the beastmen, including the largest, causing the rest to turn and flee. The men began cleaning weapons and discussing the fight, while Rudiger checked the dead for anything of value.
He managed to find a few trinkets, and some metal inlays in the teeth and horns of some of them. After he had done so, he was approached by a young man who demanded his share of the loot for helping in the fight.
Rudiger didn't know what he was talking about, as he hadn't seen the man involved in the fight at all, but the others who had been involved seemed to know him and did not object. Reluctantly, Rudiger shared out some of his find with the others in order to avoid a confrontation.
The Captain returned and informed them all that the beastmen had also attacked the walls of the town, but had been driven off there as well; however, news arrived that a band of two hundred beastmen were headed towards the town, more than its remaining defenders could hope to repel.
Reluctantly, the remaining citizens agreed that their only hope was to seek safety within the walls of Middenheim. Rudiger was torn as to what to do. Chances were good that there were still people in Middenheim that wanted him dead, but his chances of surviving on his own in a land swarming with beastmen were even worse. He finally decided to accompany the refugees, sticking close to the two men he fought next to on the bridge.
It turned out that they were Diebold, a young noble serving as a squire and Andric, an initiate of Sigmar. Both seemed capable of handling themselves in a fight, and therefore capable of helping Rudiger protect his skin.The archer joined them as well, as did the pushy man who had demanded a share of the spoils from the fight, and he learned that they were Luther, a local huntsman, and Oldric, the former apprentice of a wizard who had died defending the town. Together they joined the caravan of refugees as it began its trek to Middenheim.
text by Fulminata
For the last nine days he had been dodging bands of beastmen, moving from one ruined building to another, terrified of discovery. Now there was no sign of the brutes, and he heard human voices. From his position lying on the floor of some burger's bedroom floor, he looked out through the gaping wound in the wall caused by one side or the other's war-engines, and observed a group of men in soldier's uniforms walking between the ruined buildings.
"When are we moving out Sarge?" he heard one of the soldiers say in a low voice that carried anyway.
"When we get orders to, Baldric, and not before."
"Surely the Captain must have said something about what's up?"
"All's I know is that he got word Middenheim took a pounding, but the siege has lifted. The Dwarfs got called forward to rejoin the Emperor's army, and I imagine we will too, once we make sure there's no beasties left here."
"How bad a pounding Sarge? I've got family in Middenheim," said another of the soldiers, this one with a Middenland accent.
"Don't know for sure, but I heard that Southgate took the worst of it. Now shut yer yaps and open yer eyes so we can finish this patrol alive!" Rudiger slipped back into the shadows and let the men pass.
If Southgate really was hit hard, then there was a good chance that the people who wanted himarrested weren't even alive anymore. If they were, it should be easy enough to slip away again in the confusion if he had to. In any case, anything was an improvement over what he'd gone through since leaving the city!
Moving back through the town, Rudiger made his way to its center where the river splitit in two. He looked across to see people gathering in the remains of the townsquare.
Carefully he made his way to and across the bridge without anyone noticing him, and moved to the edge of the crowd. He began listening to the talk of the villagers, asking a few questions of his own when necessary.
He learned that while he had been hiding in the east side of town, the villagers and Imperial troops had been defending the west side. They had finally driventhe beastmen back out of the town entirely.
The troops had moved on in pursuit, leaving the village survivors to pick up the pieces. Most of those survivors were now gathered here in the square to listen to their leader, Captain Gerhard Schiller.
"People of Untergarde" he began, "this is a glorious day. I have received a letter from Count Todbringer of Middenheim. The Old Wolf still lives and the city of Middenheim stands strong!"Rudiger waited to hear what else the Captain had to say about Middenheim, but he gave no further details about the city, only congratulations to the villagers. He began to tune out the Captain when he reached into a sack and produced a loaf of bread and a bottle of wine, "We were honored to receive thirty loaves of bread and a dozen bottles of wine, straight from Middenheim!
"Now that was interesting. Rudiger hoped he could get some of that for himself. He had only had scraps and the occasional rat for the past 9 days. That bread looked divine. Suddenly the bottle of wine the Captain held shattered, spraying him with wine, followed quickly by a loud crack!
Rudiger's mind identified the noise as the sound of a firearm as the crowd came to the same conclusion and scattered in panic. Looking for cover, he spotted a nearby pileof rubble and quickly threw himself behind it. Once he felt safely covered by the rubble he surveyed the area.
Most of the villagers were scattering away from the bridge, but he noticed three men making their way towards it. One had the look of a woodsman, and he had stopped at another pile of rubble across from Rudiger's position, readying a longbow. The other two were running towards the bridge. One of them was dressed in vestments with the symbol of Sigmar. The other was wearing armor and pulling a sword.
Rudiger didn't have time to take in any more details before his eyes caught sight of a band of beastmen charging towards the bridge from the other side!Rudiger reached for his crossbow, but even as he did so he realized that the two men at the bridge could not hope to hold it on their own. They would be surrounded and dragged down, but three men could form a wall that would prevent the beasts from bringing their numbers to bear.
Rudiger looked around hastily, hoping to see that third man, but the woodsman was already shooting his bow, and did not appear to be moving forward, and the rest of the people were moving away from the bridge, not towards it.
He could not even see the Captain anymore.With a quick prayer to Ranald, Rudiger drew his sword and dagger and ran to the bridge, stepping up beside the armored man just as the beastmen reached them. The rest of the fight passed in a blur as Rudiger did his best simply trying to keep from being skewered by the spear of the beast in front of him.
Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity, the other men managed to bring down three of the beastmen, including the largest, causing the rest to turn and flee. The men began cleaning weapons and discussing the fight, while Rudiger checked the dead for anything of value.
He managed to find a few trinkets, and some metal inlays in the teeth and horns of some of them. After he had done so, he was approached by a young man who demanded his share of the loot for helping in the fight.
Rudiger didn't know what he was talking about, as he hadn't seen the man involved in the fight at all, but the others who had been involved seemed to know him and did not object. Reluctantly, Rudiger shared out some of his find with the others in order to avoid a confrontation.
The Captain returned and informed them all that the beastmen had also attacked the walls of the town, but had been driven off there as well; however, news arrived that a band of two hundred beastmen were headed towards the town, more than its remaining defenders could hope to repel.
Reluctantly, the remaining citizens agreed that their only hope was to seek safety within the walls of Middenheim. Rudiger was torn as to what to do. Chances were good that there were still people in Middenheim that wanted him dead, but his chances of surviving on his own in a land swarming with beastmen were even worse. He finally decided to accompany the refugees, sticking close to the two men he fought next to on the bridge.
It turned out that they were Diebold, a young noble serving as a squire and Andric, an initiate of Sigmar. Both seemed capable of handling themselves in a fight, and therefore capable of helping Rudiger protect his skin.The archer joined them as well, as did the pushy man who had demanded a share of the spoils from the fight, and he learned that they were Luther, a local huntsman, and Oldric, the former apprentice of a wizard who had died defending the town. Together they joined the caravan of refugees as it began its trek to Middenheim.
text by Fulminata
posted by Semper Septum at 20:22
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