Pushing open the sturdy and thick wooden door which was reinforced with banded iron, Vanyra Skorrisdottir was struck by the familiar smell of smoked tobacco, ale, cooked meat and unwashed bodies. A bell placed behind the upper-left corner of the door ringed out as it opened and the eyes of various patrons were upon the dwarf and her companion. The fortified coaching inn which was called The Wenigschloss seemed to be not much different compared to the other cheap drinking holes which she had been finding in The Empire, the town which surrounded the coaching inn, which was named Mordendorf seemed like a rather large and surprisingly densely populated settlement, despite being in the middle of what seemed to be nowhere in the borders between the provinces of Averland and Stirland.
Protected by a suit of dwarf-forged steel chainmail which jingled slightly with every step, she kept on the hood of her stone-grey cloak which had acquired quite a bit of dust and grime since beginning her journey from Karaz-a-Karak. Behind Vanyra came Sashura Kostina who was clad in a fancy leather long coat with and a hat covering her head, the Kislevite's face was also covered from below the eyes with a scarf, giving the human a look like that of a common Highwayman.
Having met the Kislevite sell-sword some time ago near an Imperial town called Schlaussen where they had done some monster-hunting and ever since then, they had been travelling together towards Altdorf. Many of the humans patrons quietly sized them up before going back to their drinks, it was quite obvious that they had seen the several weapons the two carried. Ignoring the looks of the patrons, the Engineer briefly surveyed the interior and she was quickly able to find the bar.
Moving towards the bar and weaving between the seated crowds of men and women, Vanyra and Sashura received no trouble from the patrons as some looked at them with suspicion. At the bar, they found the innkeeper to be a very thin and rakish looking old man with a bald scalp which had a mirror-like sheen to it. The innkeeper who was busy polishing a pewter stein with a rag which looked it was long overdue for laundering.
'What can I get ya?' asked the innkeeper as the two sat themselves upon vacant stools to the old man's right. Vanyra herself had some trouble getting up on the stool which was clearly designed for the size of human and she felt annoyed as she heard the chuckle of amusement from some of the nearby patrons. As the dwarf sat herself down, she pulled back her hood while Sashura removed her cap and lowered the cloth in front of her mouth.
'Finest you have' said Sashura as she reached into her coin pouch and removed three golden Reikmarks. The old man's eyes widened at the sight of the money before quickly sweeping them off the counter with his right hand and into the waiting cup of his left hand.
'Coming right up then miladies!' said the old man in a suddenly friendly tone. The innkeeper then turned around towards an open doorway behind him, he raised his free right hand near his mouth and he called out 'Hoy! Richtof! Ready the Nob's Special!
'On it!' replied another man whose voice came from behind the open doorway, Vanyra saw a second old human lean out, he had a big bushy beard and a more strongly-built when compared to the innkeeper. Guessing that the second human was the cook, the other old man then disappeared back into the kitchen.
'What about for drinks manling?' asked Vanyra Skorrisdottir with some rather low expectations for within the time which she had been travelling through the Empire, her opinion of human-made brews were becoming lower and lower with each passing tavern.
'Well for a price of eight Karls, we got a keg of Bugman's in the cellar' answered the Innkeeper with a greedy smile.
'Did you say Bugman's, manling!?' quickly questioned Vanyra with surprise at the mouth-watering thought of being able to try even just a sip of beer brewed by the legendary Josef Bugman. Such was the quality of Bugman's beer that over the years, dwarfs have been willing to and indeed have died in many great battles just for a taste of it.
'I sure did mein frau' grinned the innkeeper with a confident look 'I will go have someone fetch it'. The old man then called towards one of the serving girls who was busily collecting payment from one of the tables and he asked her to go fetch the Bugman's. A rather plump and strong looking human woman who looked liked she may even have a bit of dawi blood, acknowledged the order and went towards the kitchen.
Vanyra and Sashura waited for a only a short while before the cook came out with a big platter of steaming sausages, cheeses and bread. The cook set down the platter between the dwarf and the Kislevite while the innkeeper set for them plates; utensils and some steins which Vanyra hoped were cleaned with a different cloth. Soon enough, the serving girl came out of the kitchen and to the bar, in her arms she was holding up a keg which was at least four feet tall three feet wide.
The serving girl easily set the keg near Vanyra and Sashura with the label facing them. The Engineer's eyes widened as she read the label on the keg for indeed it was Bugman, she could even see that the keg which looked a bit dusty had been untapped. Upon the label in Khazalid script it read Bugman's Knockout, the sign was even complete with an engraving depicting a younger looking Josef Bugman braining a grobi with a mug which menaced with spikes on the sides.
'I will buy it!' decided Vanyra without thinking as she quickly reached for her coin pouch. On most purchases, she would feel reluctant to part with even a single pfennig but to part with eight gold coins for a keg of Bugman's? the dwarf would have been willing to pay a hundred crowns for it. 'Have it taken to our rooms with the food' she added as she stared at the keg with a look of longing.
'Aye then, right away miladies' grinned the innkeeper as he eagerly took their payment.
Groaning in pain for it felt like a blacksmith had decided to her head as an anvil, Vanyra Skorrisdottir felt what was perhaps one of the worst hangovers in her life. Not quite remembering what had happened after that first drink of Bugman's, she barely recalled some sort of commotion going on downstairs, probably just a tavern brawl. The Engineer lay upon her back on the carpeted floor of the room she had rented out which was located across from the room of Sashura.
Rubbing her eyes with the back of her right hand, the dwarf looked about blearily in the spacious, darkened room for she had felt so thirsty. Seeing the keg of Bugman's standing near her, Vanyra dragged herself to the barrel, each movement was a titanic struggle on her part and when she finally came close to the keg, she could still smell the lovely aroma of its contents. Shakily placing a hand upon the spigot and turning it, she was disappointed and profoundly saddened that there was not even a single drop left.
Muttering a foul profanity in Khazalid, she slowly brought herself back up to her feet with a staggering gait. On the side her room, there was a smaller room which contained a wash basin, a privy and a small bath tub. Dragging her feet to the rest room, Vanyra heard the loud ringing of the great bell from the local temple dedicated to Sigmar, in her hung-over state mixed with her keen dwarf-senses; it may have just as well be ringing right next to her ears.
'Grimnir's tattooed arse!' hissed the dwarf as she continued to move on to the rest room with the bell still ringing. Once inside, she dunked her head into the wash basin while standing on a bucket, the icy cold water sent pinpricks of pain into her face and clearing her mind of the hangover. Leaving herself in the cold water for a few seconds, she eventually brought her head out of it with a loud gasp of air which sent water droplets to splash upon the fur rugged floor.
Placing her hands around her head, Vanyra gently twisted and cracked her neck before doing the same with her fingers. Money well-spent she thought with approval before the sudden but distinct sound of a gun being discharged had sounded outside. Now what's going on out there? She wondered.
Hopping off of the bucket and landing softly on her booted feet, she moved towards the windows of the which were placed behind the double bed which she had found to be too soft. Glad that the dark cloth curtains had blocked out the sunlight, Vanyra knew that the light would have been hell on her eyes the moment she awoke. Climbing on top of the bed and moving towards the head rest which reached up to her neck, she slid the curtains open to the side and the Engineer's eyes widened in surprise at what she saw outside.
The streets were filled with shambling, pale-skinned humans which milled about on the roads. She could see that fires had spread out to some of the buildings with glass windows shattered here and there while upon the muddy cobbled streets, she saw pools of blood spread about here and there. On the wide street ahead of the inn, she saw a trio of humans running towards the Wenigschloss as quickly as they could while a number of the pale-skinned shamblers began to pursue them.
One of the humans was wielding a bloodied woodsman's axes while he was leading a red dressed woman and a little girl with them. Several of the shambling ones began to move in the same direction of the trio with a few suddenly breaking off into a sprint and loudly shouting and snarling like feral animals. From her position, Vanyra could see the blood which stained the mouths and chests of the deathly-pale humans which were quickly gaining on the fleeing family.
'Grungni's Beard!' she exclaimed as the little girl tripped and fell face first into the muddied streets with the pale things close behind her. Quickly jumping off of her bed and racing towards her gear, the dwarf grabbed her sword, wrench and repeater crossbow along with three wood and copper magazines which contained steel-tipped bolts. Rushing towards the door leading out, she heard the sound of another pistol firing before running down the now sunlit hallway which led to a dead end on one side and a staircase on the other.
Going down the staircase and back to the ground floor as quickly as she could, Vanyra's appearance drew the fearful eyes of several human women, children and a few men who were huddled about in groups. Looking towards the entrance of the coaching inn which had its door held out wide open to allow the family she had seen enter. As soon as they were through, metal gate was quickly closed shut by a group of men who swiftly closed it with the cook from the previous night frantically rushing to lock it.
Moving towards the entrance, Vanyra began to pick up a foul smile which was akin to that of a bloated corpse left to bake in the sun. Gagging for a moment at the stink of it, she carried on with typical dwarfish fortitude with rifle in both hands; she stepped behind the entrance to allow the family to pass by. The dwarf could smell fresh blood on them and most worryingly, she saw a bloody wound on the side of the girl child's neck.
As she came outside, she saw several human men tightly clutching a variety of make-shift weapons. Their terrified eyes were focused on the pale-skinned creatures which at a closer look could not possibly be even alive in the first place, for many were missing large chunks of flesh which revealed the meat and bone beneath their bodies. The smell of them was even worse here and on some of them, Vanyra could see flies buzzing about with maggots writhing in eye sockets and craters of meat.
It was fortunate that the coaching inn was not only protected by thick, sturdy stone walls which were clearly of dwarf masonry but also by an outer fence of stone and iron bars which pointed upwards and ended with spearhead-like spikes. A few of the pale skinned creatures which she deduced must surely be zombies were attempting to climb up the outer wall. The manlings thrust or swung their weapons in vertical arcs between the bars to strike at the zombies which attempted to climb the fence.
Some of the undead creatures fell off the fence but some ignored the injuries dealt to them and continued their attempts at climbing while others pushed against the bars or the metal gate with pale arms sticking through between the metal spike, each one making an unnerving moan. The humans who were equipped with makeshift spears attempted to stab the zombies which tried to climb the fence with more than a few of the men losing their only weapons to the grasping hands of the undead horde.
A pistol barked and the head of zombie which attempted to climb up, exploded in a shower of rotten meat and bone which showered around the other shambling corpses behind it. The human who had fired the pistol was a grizzled looking, short-bearded man with brown hair and he was dressed in the leather jack and mail armour of the Empire's Road Wardens. As the law enforcer quickly went about reloading his gun with shot and powder, a series of several shots ringed out and several zombies were slain.
Looking to where the other shots had come from, Vanyra saw an old human man wearing the yellow and black uniform of an Averland State Troop Handgunner with grey hair and a thick but short beard. In the old soldier's hands, Vanyra saw that the man was wielding a multi-barreled rifle, an Imperial Repeater Handgun she noticed with academic interest. Both the old Handgunner and the Road Warden were quick to begin reloading their guns while the dwarf lifted her crossbow up to the fence and she sighted down upon a particularly ugly looking zombie which was missing its lower jaw, a black tongue dangled down from where its mouth should be.
Squeezing the trigger of her crossbow, Vanyra felt the recoil as her crossbow let fly a deadly bolt which found its way into the jawless zombie's right eye. The zombie fell back into the gathering crowd and the dwarf quickly sighted down on another while aiming for the head. Having read historical accounts of the Vampire Wars as well as the drunken tales of Slayers, the Engineer remembered hearing that the best way to kill a zombie is to decapitate one or shoot it in the head.
Only a few of the zombies were able to make it to the top of the fence, those that did became trapped as they were impaled upon the spikes. One zombie managed to make it over the fence but the undead thing simply fell to the ground and the frightened human defenders quickly rushed and began to beat and stab the thing with their weapons. Relieved at the moment that the fence was now clear of any climbing zombies, Vanyra was immediately more worried about the several dozens of walking corpses which crowded the sturdy fence.
'Now what in Valaya's Silver Cups is going on here manlings!?' spoke out the Engineer as she looked to the humans while reloading her crossbow.
'As you can clearly see good dwarf, we have a zombie outbreak on our hands' came the voice of the old Handgunner who was cautiously glancing towards the crowd of the living dead. 'I have no idea how it started, but it's been going on since yesterday' the old Handgunner then said as he took out a pipe from the right pocket of his trousers.
'Yesterday?' questioned Vanyra with confusion 'a friend and I came in to town last night and there were no walking corpses around, manling.'
'That was two nights ago mein frau' spoke the Old Handgunner with a confounded look on his face as he held a small box with one hand and placed tobacco into the pipe 'I was there by the door when you and your foreign friend came in!'
'Can you all talk about this later and focus on the horde of zombies outside!' came the voice of another human who was a rather burly, dark haired man wearing a black dyed leather jack. The second man wielded a wooden club with iron nails hammered into the top.
Setting her crossbow down by the entrance of the inn with the stock resting on the ground, Vanyra unsheathed her sword and she walked towards the fence of stone and iron. 'We will have to hack off the arms before we start stabbing or decapitating them' grimly spoke Vanyra as she looked at the mass of flailing limbs which were trying to reach for her. The Engineer had to admit that she was feeling rather terrified at this most unexpected situation, it was like Blackfire again.
As she took a step forwards, Vanyra heard a sudden scream coming from inside the inn.
Staggering out of her room while cursing in her native tongue, Sashura propped her right forearm upon the wooden wall to the right of the doorway leading to her room. A severe, splitting headache wracked the skull of the Kislevite sell-sword. Having heard of the tales regarding the potency of dwarf beer, it was cleat that the stories were of no exaggeration, in fact, it did the mountain folk no justice.
Taking a deep breath as she staggered down the sunlit hall, each step was followed by a jingle of mail links as she still wore the light chain shirt which she kept under her coat. The door leading Vanyra's room was left wide open with her companion nowhere in sight. The dwarf was probably downstairs having breakfast thought Sashura as mental images of greasy sausages and eggs made the sell-sword's mouth water as she reached the staircase.
Hearing a frantic series of footsteps rushing up the staircase and going down the hall of the second floor where the smaller common rooms were, the Kislevite could smell something like fresh blood mixed with a the familiar stench of a rotted corpse. Sashura's palms began to itch and the sell-sword instinctively reached for her dagger. Descending the stairs, she quickly reached the second floor of the coaching inn and she saw a that indeed there was fresh blood on the floor board.
With a critical eye, the Kislevite saw that the blood was coming up from the ground floor and it led into the lantern lit hallway of the floor she was on. Sunlight shined through one of the door to her left which was five doors down the hall, it was left open with the blood trail leading there. From the room she could hear the voice of a man and a woman desperately pleading in Reikspiel. Having a very bad feeling about this, the sell-sword decided to quickly check on things and see if everything was all fine.
Moving towards the open doorway where the sunlight disappeared for a moment, a sudden, high pitched scream sounded from the room and the sell-sword began running towards it while pulling her dagger out of its sheath. Breathing heavily as her head spun and the hangover began to hit the Kislevite with full force, Sashura soon arrived at the open doorway with a grisly scene playing out.
Within the rather small and less decorated common room, she saw a little girl with blood all over the left side of her neck which also stained her dress. The little girl was tightly clutching the shoulders of an Imperial man who was also heavily bleeding from the left side of his neck, to the Kislevite's horror; she saw the bloody chunk of meat between the girl's mouth. To Sashura's right, an Imperial woman wearing a red dress was screaming with in horror as a bloodied knife was held in the Imperial's right hand.
'Chyort!' hissed the sell-sword as she rushed into the room where the man who was clearly the father of this family was stepping back, dangerously close towards the window. The Imperial woman in the red dress who was clearly the mother continued to scream and before she managed to get close to the father with the little girl on his back, the man tripped over a bloodied woodsman's axe and he fell towards the window.
Before she knew it, Sashura saw the Imperial man hit the section of the wall below the window and the little girl who had torn a bloody chunk out of his neck was hurled outside with a shower of glass shard while the Imperial woman in the red dress screamed in horror. Stunned for a moment, Sashura quickly regained her wits and she rushed to the window where a foul stench was being blown in by the wind. The smell was just overpowering and the Kislevite stopped for a moment to gag before placing her right forearm over her nose and mouth.
Eventually sticking her head out of the window, Sashura saw to her surprise, the large horde of zombies which were gathered outside of the coaching inn's fence. Looking down to see where the girl had fallen, she saw that the child was now dragging herself to the nearest of Imperials. One of the men outside was quick to drop his weapon and rush to the little girl and Sashura swiftly began shouting a word of warning in Reikspiel.
The Imperial who had been running to help the little girl stopped for a moment to look up towards Sashura whose gut instinct told her that the girl was no longer normal. Thankfully, the Imperial man heeded her words and cautiously began to move closer to the little girl. A series of sudden, footsteps along with the jingling of chain links could be heard from the hallway of the second floor and Sashura looked back to see Vanyra appear at the door.
For a moment, the dwarf who was armed with her repeating crossbow, looked at Sashura before looking to the bleeding man.
'Oh what the krut happened here!?' exclaimed Vanyra.
'I think child was ghoul!' quickly said Sashura while trying to explain in Reikspiel for in the past, the Kislevite had encountered the corrupted mutants which feasted on human flesh.
The Imperial woman in the red dress then began to run towards her husband, calling his name frantically. Stepping aside to allow the Imperial to pass, Sashura moved towards the doorway where Vanyra waited.
'Well this is crazy morning eh?' said spoke Sashura a bit nervously as she glanced back at the two Imperials within the room, the woman was kneeling in front of her husband and checking his wounds. 'Maybe you get medicine?' asked the Kislevite towards the dwarf who nodded and rushed towards the staircase and back up to the third floor.
Another series of foots resounded from the stairs going up and Sashura saw another Imperial who looked like a Road Warden climb up. 'What happened over there!?' called the Road Warden with alarm towards Sashura.
'Ghoul, I think!' answered the Kislevite and the man began moving towards Sashura's direction.
Hearing footsteps from above, Sashura stepped back to allow the Road Warden to enter the room and soon she saw Vanyra step down from the staircase with a leather satchel in her hands. Having seen how well her companion was in dealing with injuries, she decided to leave the dwarf to it. Sashura quickly thought about her horse and wondered if it was okay, she quickly went back towards the staircase, intent on checking her faithful steed.
Setting down the leather pack beside her, Vanyra opened the top of the container and removed a small clay jar which contained a rather potent medicinal salve. The Road Warden knelt down as well to Vanyra's right while the Imperial man's wife had left to check on the little girl. It did not take long for the Road Warden to convince the woman to let them deal with her husband's injuries and with fearful eyes, she allowed them to do so.
'Make sure to hold him down manling' commanded Vanyra and the Road Warden obeyed by firmly putting pressure on the injured man's wrists. 'This is going to hurt, a lot manling' warned Vanyra as she looked to the injured man who barely looked even conscious. Memories of the last time she had used the same medicine on a human were suddenly recalled by the dwarf and she hopped that the injured man did not struggle.
Taking a deep breath, Vanyra dipped her left middle, index and ring fingers into the small jar and she scooped out a dollop of a syrupy mixture. Normally now would probably be appropriate moment to give a kind word of encouragement but the dwarf simply steeled herself and lathered the medicine upon the human's neck wound. The injured Imperial gritted his teeth and closed his eyes while loudly making pained scream.
The dwarf medicine Vanyra was using would advisedly be used after consuming a generous portion of beer to dull the pain but as she was in yet again a situation where there was simply no time, she just proceeded with applying it. The injured man struggled painfully as sweat beaded across his brow and the Road Warden did his best to keep the man down as the dwarf applied a second dollop of medicine. The injured man continued shout through clenched his teeth which was wound so tightly that Vanyra feared that they would break.
Soon the pained noises from the injured Imperial became a low moan and a whimper and the man passed out. Thankful for the silence now, Vanyra pulled out a clean cloth from her pack and she began to wipe her left hand fingers. When her hand was more less, cleaned, she reached back into the satchel and removed a roll of clean bandages. Wrapping the bandages around the injured man's neck, Vanyra knew that she would have to check on the wound soon.
'You certainly know a thing or two about medicine, are you a physician' whispered the Road Warden with relief as the injured man settled down quietly but still breathing.
'I am not, manling' sighed Vanyra with a bit of worry for if what Sashura said was true, then there was the strong possibility of the injured man being poisoned for Ghouls supposedly possessed poisonous claws. 'I will have to wait and see if there was no poisoning' shrugged the dwarf.
'Rickert Grim' said the Road Warden as he raised his right hand for a shake 'Road Warden of the State of Averland'.
'Vanyra Skorrisdottir' introduced the dwarf and the two of them shook hands.
'The Handgunner you met earlier was old Willhelm' said the Road Warden with respect.
'A pleasure then' replied Vanyra politely who inwardly was quietly frustrated at this strange turn of events.
It was not long ago that she had been stuck for more than a week in an Imperial Fortress within Blackfire Pass where she had assisted the Imperial Army in facing off an entire greenskin Waaagh! Although it ended up becoming quite profitable for Vanyra, she was far from pleased about this other interruption with her quest. This was going to be an all-together different siege when compared to the Waaagh!
Hopefully when things would get more quiet they could discuss exactly what was going on here and what they should do about these zombies and more importantly, how they will be able to get out of here