Old World Adventures

Hello everyone, im very sad to announce that we're forced to cancel the OWA event this Saturday, due to sickness a very large portion of the crew are unable to make it to the event and we were unable to replace the losses sufficiently, its unfortunate but completely understandable. We realise many of you have made preparations to come to this event, booked time off work, arranged for pet care ect and we're very sorry for the inconvenience, its not a decision we wanted to make but we truly feel that we have no alternative and at least wanted to give all of you a heads up as soon as we could instead of delaying it another day for the slim chance we could find enough replacement crew to go ahead and potentially annoying you all even more by giving you a last minute cancellation.

I would like to thank Bear, Smee and T for their efforts in trying to help us pull together the event and apologise for any inconvenience in your schedules this has caused.

We will try to reschedule an event as soon as is convenient.

Many thanks to Justin McKie for taking and sharing these amazing shots from last Saturday's event, especially while juggling doing a great job roleplaying!

Many thanks to everyone who came to Event 4 - March of the Faithful! Our first event of 2024 was a blast, with both players and crew pulling out all the bells and whistles. Can't wait for the next one! - Sophia

Evening everyone, very excited to see lots of you on Saturday for Event 4!

For those not on Discord, there are three new short stories about what's been going on in and around Auricsburg in the lead up to the event, which can be found either via the Discord link below, or via Google Drive:

https://discord.com/channels/933325957727678524/1167835128723161208

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1_e8sF1LeAfTmhZ8lYVoPwcUjZYgg2JaU?usp=drive_link

These can be read together or standalone, and in any order. Hope you enjoy!

- Sophia

Google Drive: Sign-in Access Google Drive with a Google account (for personal use) or Google Workspace account (for business use).

Hello everyone - hope you're as excited for fresh OWA in 2024 as we are! Our planned dates for this year are as follows:

23/3/24
18/5/24
13/7/24
21/9/24
23/11/24

We're currently aiming for the third Saturday of the month (apart from July, to avoid Curious Pastimes), every other month - though we may need to change or add dates depending on circumstances.

Hope to see you at one or more of these dates soon!

Happy 2024 everyone! Looking forward to seeing you all at OWA this year, and planned dates for our events will be posted shortly. In the meantime, please see attached a short story, covering some of the events taking place in the winter months in the wake of our heroes' efforts...

docs.google.com

One week on - congratulations to our brave heroic players and villainous (but really equally heroic) crew, who ventured out last Saturday for our final and frosty OWA event of the year. Thanks to everyone who came out, and helped us end the year with another successful event.

Particular thanks for the crew as always, for giving it their all and putting on a show - and a challenge! - for the intrepid players, as they battled to put a stop to the raging threat of the Beastmen and their allies...as well encountering more of the strange spirits drifting through the woods...

We can't wait to see lots of returning and new faces when we resume events in the Spring. We're planning for the first event - and 4th overall - for the 30th March 2024, so feel free to put it in your diaries now!

We'll be in touch with some updates in the meantime, including a few looks at what's going on in Auricsburg and the surrounding woods over the long dark...but otherwise, hope you all have a lovely Christmas and winter season, and looking forward to seeing you in 2024!

P.S. to catch up with other players/crew and get in touch with the organisers more quickly, drop a line on our Discord server: https://discord.com/channels/933325957727678524/933325958205804619

Hi everyone - please see the link below for next part of the Auricsburg story, as a prologue to next Saturday (25th November)'s event, Call of the Herdstone!

https://1drv.ms/w/s!AqNWjsjq5dTkhIl86twAhFrVeEf1fw?e=Q3sIlw

This story also leads into an interactive narrative Discord thread, where your characters can interact with and influence how the story unfolds. Feel free to jump in as your character, whether you've been to a previous OWA session or not! Please see the Discord link below:

https://discord.com/channels/933325957727678524/1175922885941022870

Hope everyone's excited for our event next weekend! If you'd like to eat in the pub with us afterwards please let us know so we can let the pub know ahead of time how many to expect.

This session will be a bit shorter than previous adventures, we should finish at around 4pm, before things get too dark.

We should hopefully have the crew brief sent out to all members of the crew by tuesday/wednesday.

see you in the Drakwald!

-Jimmy

Hi everyone - a few updates:

1) First and foremost, thank you so much to all the crew and players who braved the rain to come along to our second event last Saturday! Despite the very wet weather, it was an amazing day with a great atmosphere, fantastic roleplay, and even a tragic character death! We're so grateful to everyone who helped make it a success - especially for those of you providing behind-the-scenes advice and feedback to help make things even better.

2) We've finished putting together an OWA Discord (many thanks to Jimmy in particular for his hard work on this), which we'll be using alongside FB going forward. This will allow us to share information about upcoming events, keep rules/character creation/other docs in one useful place, and for RP/lore updates to carry on between sessions. Please check it out here, we look forward to seeing you all there!: https://discord.gg/4aqxw5J3C

3) We'll be confirming the details very shortly, but we're busy planning our 3rd event (and the last of 2023 before the long winter break), which will take place on Saturday 25th November.

Thanks everyone, and hope to see you all soon!

- Sophia

Hope everyone had a fantastic time at our recent event, with all the kit drying out i found a Black UNIQLO raincoat, who does it belong to?

-Jimmy

Hey everyone - ahead of tomorrow's event (which is likely to be wet, so do dress sensibly if you're coming!), please see a short story via the link below, which sets the scene a little. Hope you enjoy!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1P8KJdkiAwHgUxcemRR6qGntnpSE6-F6w7KbKWbc6vYM

Hope everyone's looking forward to our upcoming event next weekend :) Currently we have a bit of an imbalance between players and crew and will only be taking on new bookings for crew (As a reminder crew will earn crew credits which can be spent on experience points or new in character equipment), if you know anyone who hasn't booked in but would like to crew please send them our way :)

Hey everyone - thanks for those who have already signed up for our next event, looking forward to seeing everyone there!

As mentioned previously, we're pleased to share the online character sheets that should allow both us as the organisers and those of you with characters in the system to note the key details of your character and any progress/changes made as time goes by.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EbeDxA0EqOu3qgi2AdxvK37MM8_TjOyQTtpMv5rhmzY/edit

This is also an opportunity for those who haven't been able to join us at any event or to play so far to create a character that will be ready to go when you are able.

We've included an example of what sort of information you might want to include in the template. To fill out your own sheet, please copy and save the table into a separate document, then share it back with us so we can both access your character's sheet going forward.

This should be a quick and easy way of keeping track of everyone's characters and progression as we go forward, but do let us know if you have any problems!

Many thanks - Sophia

🚩🚩🚩Dates for the next event🚩🚩🚩

Howdy all, apologies for the radio silence we've all been a bit busy with real life stuff for a while.

We would like to arrange a date for our second event, like previously check the comment section and like the dates you can attend, feel free to comment if you have a preference for Play or crew.

when we feel we have a good balance of players and crew we will confirm a date, please share this post with anyone you think might be interested 😊

One week on...

Hey everyone - two quick notes:

1) Thanks so much to all the crew and players who came along to the first event of the OWA relaunch yesterday! We were thrilled to see a mix of old friends and new, and to see all the great characters in their costumes and gear and doing some fantastic roleplay throughout the day. Many thanks to all the crew playing a variety of NPCs with energy and enthusiasm - from pilgrims and politicians to raging Beastmen and cunning bandits, all helping to bring the event to life!

2) We'll be posting details of the next planned event soon and some additional updates (such as character sheets so both players and refs can keep track of XP and progression online), but in the meantime we'd like to share some photos of yesterday's event for both those who could and couldn't make it on the day.

Please could anyone who does NOT want photos with them in to be shared on our FB page either leave a comment under this post, or message us separately?

Thanks again, and looking forward to seeing you all again soon for the next adventure!

Hi all - we'll do a proper update post with pictures soon, but just wanted to drop a quick note to say thank you so much to everyone who made our first event today a huge success! Thank you to our wonderful crew and players, and we look forward to planning our next event very soon! - Sophia

Howdy all, we're going to attempt to reschedule our event for as soon as possible, we're going to do our best to prioritise play slots for those who had already prepared themselves to play for the cancelled event, however as long as we have a healthy Player/Crew ratio we're happy to take on more players.

To tell us that you can make one of our dates, please like all the comments with the date you can make.

Please share this post with anyone you think would be interested (the Facebook algorithm is bizarre)

URGENT MESSAGE - PLEASE READ

Hi all. We're very sorry to share that we've reluctantly decided to postpone tomorrow (Saturday 15th July)'s OWA event. This is because of the yellow weather warning issued by the Met Office, warning of potentially very high winds in the area, and a particular risk of damage and injury when travelling or in wooded areas.

We're gutted to have to do this, especially for the first event of the system, but we have to put safety first, especially as the event takes place in a heavily wooded area and the risk is therefore greater. This may be us being overly cautious, but we felt on balance it was the right decision to keep everyone safe.

We're hugely grateful to everyone who has signed up and put time and effort into preparing, and want to assure everyone that we will be rescheduling as soon as possible. Please keep an eye out for a poll asking about possible dates to reschedule in July and August that we'll be sharing very soon.

Thanks all for your patience and understanding - and again, very sorry to have to do this. We're looking forward to seeing you all on another occasion as soon as we can.

PS - please share this message with others who were due to attend tomorrow but may not have seen on FB.

Sophia

Hi all - thanks to all of you who have been in touch to confirm you'll be attending our first OWA event this Saturday the 15th, now titled - "A Miner Problem." We've really enjoyed hearing about the character ideas and costumes of those of you who are playing, and can't wait to see them in action! Thanks as well to all of our lovely crew who have volunteered to support on the day.

Currently, after a couple of our planned crew members sadly had to drop out, we are expecting 10 players and 6 crew. As we'd like to ensure a relative balance of players and crew in order to make it a fun but challenging experience for players and not to put too much of a burden on the crew, we would like to ask if any of the players would very kindly volunteer to switch over to crew? We'd be extremely grateful to anyone able to do so.

Just to confirm as well, we are meeting at the YHA Hostle carpark at Hurtwood, near Holmbury St Mary. If those attending could aim to get there around 10, this would be very helpful, as will allow a good hour to get into costumes, go over crew briefs, etc., before a planned start of the event at 11.

Also a reminder, especially for those who haven't attended previous OWA or LARP events, sensible footwear is recommended - walking/hiking boots rather than trainers - and please remember to bring plenty of water and snacks as it may be a warm day with plenty of physical exercise! Do also please remember to wear lighter clothes for the heat as much as possible.

If you have any questions beforehand, please do get in touch - otherwise we'll look forward to seeing you all on Saturday!

This post contains a link to a google doc giving a bit of background into the setting of our campaign as well as the third part of Kurt Wexler's story, which is set in the events briefly before the start of our campaign.

we hope you enjoy it and are very excited to hear about the characters you will be populating our world with! If you have any questions about our setting, the town of Auricsburg feel free to ask them in the comments or send us a PM. https://docs.google.com/document/d/11ngHMNrJud4hh6p9vdAdS1jmsyI_bCPh9qHsLHM-mNs/edit?usp=sharing

Send a message to learn more

Howdy all, we're all very excited to finally share with you the new rules of OWA!
there are 3 attached google documents that contain everything you need.

-The Core rules which contains details on what skills do, how you can progress and a few bits of our interpretation of Warhammer's lore.

-The career compendium, which is a collection of all the various careers you can play.

-The race and culture guide, which is a collection of the various races and cultures your character can hail from as well as what rules they have which lends to their unique flavour.
There has been many changes to the formatting of these documents as well changes and rewordings, we have worked very hard to make it all easy to read and understand but if you spot any oddities please let us know!

Please privately message us to let us know what kind of character you are planning on playing or if you just want something explained or want to discuss things with us 🙂

Core rules - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HWu3qZQu9IH9fyrZogK3xPMAYT2DAG3J7aF-9OjsXeA/edit?usp=sharing

Career compendium - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Pn0bkaBac7Sc9JinCOrIQ_V6UP5H_MRpaohhfTnWtnU/edit?usp=sharing

Race and culture guide - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SsLyagahAjRSENYpKuWn_nADOwcNqtR5hOA5ev40bTw/edit?usp=sharing

As a reminder, the story will be based in the small town of Auricsburg, which has been recently founded in the depths of the Drakwald forest around a newly discovered source of Gold. It is a growing community where people of all sorts flock to, with promises of a better life...although it is not without hardship.
more story details will be posted later.

Old world adventures - Race and culture guide Old world adventures - Race and Culture guide There are a number of Races and Cultures available to players in OWA. Each race or culture gains a unique trait which applies to that character. OWA requires a high standard of Physical Representation and costume from a player wishing to play any r...

🚩🚩🚩Announcement 🚩🚩🚩

The time has come and OWA ready to roll out as of July 1st so polish up those boots and silicone spray them weapons because the hordes of choas are marching.

To maximise the potential of both players and crew we have a selection of dates to pick from:
08/07/23
15/07/23
22/07/23
29/07/23

Just so we can get rough number, please like the dates you wish to attend as crew or player in the comments below.

We will be running events at The Hurtwood Forest near Holmbury St.Mary

new core rulebooks will be posted later down the line and the story so far.

Kurt Wexler – Part Two

Standing out in the rain, a rat ran across Kurt’s boot.

He felt it, saw it when he looked down – but when he made to kick it away, it wasn’t there. And the sun was shining brightly.

“No,” he murmured to himself, scratching his scalp. “No, that isn’t right.”

His hand came back from his scalp, the fingertips faintly red with blood. But when he looked again, they were clean and unblemished.

Kurt closed his eyes, and shook his head thoroughly. “You are here,” he told himself quietly but firmly. “It is today. Marktag the 13th, of Sommerzeit. 2,520th year of our Blessed Sigmar.”

He opened his eyes, with a croak of relief. It always worked – though his head seemed to be a bit sorer after each time.

The sun was shining brightly, and the sound of laughter, music, and hawking were in the air. It was market day, and Auricsberg was flourishing.

They had a marked, definite main street now, a thoroughfare with buildings on both sides, all hewn from Drakwald wood. Houses of a variety of sizes, shapes, and styles, a tavern selling beer brewed by several locals and an especially prized still operated by a dwarvish fellow named Ironpot, a small temple that – by general agreement – contained shrines for Sigmar, Taal, Ulric, and Miscellaneous Others, a meeting hall where the Town Council held session, and a number of shops. A butchers, a bakers, a barber-surgeon, a general store for linens and tools and such things. More were planned, with plots pitched out with rope wrapped around stakes in the hardy black earth.

More streets were crawling their way outwards from the centre, bit by bit clawing away at the surrounding forest. More space was needed – at the latest town meeting, it had been announced by the Council to loud cheers and the stamping of many feet that Auricsberg now had over five hundred inhabitants.

The Drakwald still lingered in its dark, hungry terror, surrounding them on all sides, and its presence never went away. And when you went out into its depths, alone or in the company of dozens, you quickly felt how far away from safety you were. Many eyes still waited, and watched. You got the impression, folks said, of lips smacking, like you were being sized up for your meat.

But Auricsberg – and the little but growing clearing they had hacked out of the Drakwald - allowed them to forget that for a while. And on Marktags, wagons rolled up to the main street, stalls were set up, barrels rolled out and propped up to serve as makeshift seats.

Auricsberg had pulled people from all over the Empire – Altdorfers, Stirlanders like Kurt, Reiklanders, Talabeclanders, a clutch of halflings from the Moot, Ostlanders, Middenlanders – and even a few from further afield. A Bretonian gambler named Philippe who claimed to be the former lover of Countess Emmanuelle of Nuln, a tight-lipped and unsociable party of dwarves from Karaz-a-Karak, a Tilean bard, a married pair of Kislevite sellswords…and more were coming, it seemed, every day, riding up the trail in ones or twos, or as part of a sturdy caravan of wagons.

No doubt plenty were lost along the way, but they were getting through, and making Auricsberg their home. There were so many now that Kurt – who had been one of the first – didn’t even know all their names.

And yet, from the moment he opened up the front door of the very nice, very spacious house he had been able to build - with six rooms and two stories, just for him! – even those he didn’t know would call out to him, smiling warmly, slapping him on the back, pushing tankards into his hand. One very pretty, very pregnant woman from Marienberg had even promised him she would name her baby Kurt if it was a boy, or Kurtherine if it was a girl.

For Aurisberg had been doing well. But it was Kurt’s discovery of what everyone seemed to have agreed to simply refer to as The Mine that had given it real prosperity. He’d gotten a tidy finder’s fee from the Council and a small portion of all the profits from the gold that was being pulled from the Mine, and the wealth pulled from those depths was making them all plentiful.

That had been six months ago, and news had slowly spread, attracting adventurous merchants under heavy guard, whose eyes glowed at the sight of the gold for trade. Doubtless those who made it back to more civilised parts of the world were already spreading tales, and in turn more adventurers and pioneers and the desperate would head out for the Drakwald to find their own fortune.

It made Kurt very proud. And yet there was something always nagging at him. Like an itch, but on the inside, a scuff on the brain. Something missing, or changing, within him. It made him forgetful, and confused. He would see things that weren’t there, and sometimes imagine himself in places he had never been, or had been to many years before.

Worse were the dreams. He would dream of terrible things he had seen, or things he only imagined. The town in smouldering ruins, a plague of undead, strange beastmen chittering and squealing as they gnawed at the bones of his friends. He would see himself running through the forest, screaming, his arms out, trying to warn strangers away from the doom.

And sometimes from those nightmares, he would wake up in bed, sweating and gasping for air. But other times, he would be outside, wandering the street, or even beyond the town, out in the forest. And the watch on guard would swear they had never seen him leave.

Just bad dreams, and sleepwalking. It happened, the Shallayan priestess and the barber-surgeon agreed, especially as you got older – and particularly for someone like Kurt, an old prospector who had put mind and body through a lot over the years. And yet there was still that gap, that wound, like an empty gap in the tooth you couldn’t help explore with your tongue.

Maybe it was just a toothache. Maybe-

“What’s that, old fellow?”

Kurt must have spoken aloud, because the man he suddenly realised had been approaching him was looking at him curiously. Johann Bauer had cocked his head at a slight angle, and had a warm but faintly amused expression.

“Sorry,” Kurt replied. “Just…my mind wandering.” Remembering his courtesies, he bowed his head. “Good day, Councillor Bauer.”

Johann Bauer laughed, shaking his head modestly. “No need for that, Herr Wexler. If anything, I should be bowing to you!”

He laughed again – Bauer had a rich, warm laugh. Nobody – as far as Kurt knew – loved him, but almost everyone seemed to like him.

Bauer had a way that inspired confidence. He didn’t seem to have any specific skills that would help a community – by Bauer’s own admission, across his forty-odd years he had dabbled in accounting, priesthood, managing stocks, horse-trading, estate management, law drafting, and diplomacy, and none very successfully. But he did have a productive, chivvying manner, and a seemingly-boundless energy. He was always walking briskly about, cheerily bringing people together, sorting out problems. It wasn’t a surprise, then, when he had been elected to the town council.

“How fare you today, Councillor?” Kurt asked politely. Bauer was a friendly man, but Kurt doubted he would have stopped for just a chat.

“Very well, Kurt my man, very well!” He grinned broadly, and stepped closer, and dropping his tone. “Be a good fellow and don’t spread it around just yet, but I’ve been chatting with a very astute lady from a mining interest, out of Marienburg.”

He gave Kurt a meaningful wink. “Oh yes?” Kurt said, as some response seemed to be wanted.

“Indeed,” Bauer said, throwing an arm around Kurt’s shoulders, and holding him even closer. “An up and coming business, eager for an entrepreneurial venture like ours. They should be able to provide a number of healthy bodies for our operations at the Mine very shortly. The Golden Horn, they’re called – appropriate, don’t you think?”

“Yes, Councillor,” Kurt said. “Very appropriate.”

He didn’t think that was funny, but Bauer laughed uproariously, slapping him on the back again. “Quite so, quite so!” And as he laughed, Kurt realised he was thumping a pouch of gold into Kurt’s palm.

Bauer winked, as he stepped back again. “For our continued understanding,” he said softly. Before Kurt could query, he raised his voice and his hat, and bowed. “Good day, Herr Wexler, and good fortune to us all!”

And he was gone, striding down the street, grinning and shaking hands and exchanging b***y jokes with the one-legged tallow seller, before Kurt could call back to say that they didn’t have any understanding that Kurt was aware of.

“Suppose you should give it to the Temple,” Kurt told himself. “Doesn’t seem right to keep it. Maybe the Councillor’s thinking of someone else.”

Kurt looked down the street after Bauer – and then the world seemed to tilt, before righting itself.

With horror, and a lurching head, Kurt realised he was staring at the burning ruins of the town, as monsters capered amidst the shadows and chanted in some evil tongue.

He saw Bauer, raised on a pike, shoved vertically up him with the tip protruding from his gaping mouth – and screamed.

Apparently, they told him later, he had fallen to his knees right in the middle of a bright sunny Marktag day, let out a hideous shriek, and then vanished into thin air for two days.

Hey guys, just wanted to make a post regarding the future of OWA under the management of myself, Sophia and Fraser. First of, apologies for the radio silence, we meant to get in contact with everyone sooner but a few stages of setting up the club are taking longer than initially planned so we wanted to hold off until we had something more substantial.

- The main story is finished and has been for some time however we are constantly making additions and refinements as we go, we can't wait to see how you guys will effect the world we've created!

- We've been scouting out some of the more unexplored areas of the Hurtwood forest to keep things feeling exciting and new.

- We already have a decent inventory of monster kit but we're looking into getting more as well as building some of our own custom stuff, aiming to give our club a distinct look with high quality costume (in the future we will need to invest in storage solutions but this isn't a priority right now).

- Our rule system will be heavily based of what was in place with OWA previously: a low number of hit points, few ability calls, resources such as magic being based of a "per encounter" system instead of a "per adventure/day" system as we feel this was the most enjoyable "game feel" we've ever had at larp. We will also continue to use a version of the Career system of progression with skill selection being restricted by the career your character finds themselves in, however we have plans to add additional skills that benefit roleplaying characters that don't fit typical adventurer archetypes, for example Chefs, musicians and lawyers.

- The setting will, like the previous iteration of OWA, be one based on the warhammer fantasy world. However we will be creating our own version of this separate from the original, meaning that no characters or story elements will carry across, we're very sorry if this disappoints any of you who were hoping to revisit old characters but we felt it wasn't possible with our idea for the setting and initial story.

- The story will focus around the settlement of Auricsberg, a newly founded mining town in the heart of the Drakwald forest. The Drakwald lies between three great provinces, Nordland, Middenland and Marienburg with their exact borders within the forest being ill defined. However the Drakwald is a desolate place, considered to be of little value to anyone, indeed typically the only point of contention is when the lands of one lord are raided by the hordes of beastmen, mutants and other nameless things that were allowed to grow unchecked by the other lords whose lands also border the Drakwald. This is until recently...a rich vein of gold has been discovered deep in the forest and the settlement of Auricsberg has formed around it, due to the geographical position of this settlement and its source of wealth, the three surrounding provinces have begun bickering over its ownership. Despite this Auricsberg has become a place for those seeking a better life, drawing settlers from the three nearby provinces and beyond.

- we would like to avoid specific dates for now as we don't want people to get their hopes up until we are absolutely certain, we will let everyone know here as soon as we are sure.

Lastly, the short story featuring the prospector, Kurt Wexler is set shortly before the start of our campaign...his story may continue in future posts.

If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment.

Kurt Wexler stared at the old face, rubbing his beard in careful thought.

The face stared back with grey, implacable eyes, in a stern, unsympathetic expression. It had a thick grey beard, and a tall, heavy-looking iron helmet inscribed with grey runes.

The only parts that weren’t grey, in fact, were the heavy, damp patches of green where moss had taken hold, colonising the inside of the nose and the wrinkled lines of its brow.

It was an old face, made older by time. The tip of the nose had fallen away, and the features were smoothed and made vague by the long ages and the wash of rain and wind.

“You and me both, old fella,” Kurt murmured, with a self-deprecating chuckle. His own beard wasn’t fully grey yet, but it was getting there, and his face had plenty of wrinkles and scars. “You and me both.”

Kurt often spoke to himself. He had always been solitary, by nature, never much needing crowds or company, but it was still nice to the hear the echo of a voice in the dark and lonely places of the world.

In his time, he had ventured into plenty of those – deep caverns, black woods, the heady peaks of the World’s Edge Mountains. But the Drakwald Forest took the crown, and maybe that was why he was examining this face so intently.

Or maybe it was the look of intense judgement and disapproval on the old dwarf statue that was giving him pause.

Three days into the Forest from Auricsburg, and this was the first time he had seen a sign of civilisation. A statue of an armoured dwarf, perhaps twelve feet tall, standing with an axe in one hand. The other gauntleted hand was outstretched, with palm up – stop, no further, it seemed to say. Turn back.

Kurt had glimpsed the statue between the thick trees by pure chance. He had dropped his trusty pick while carelessly readjusting his belt, and watched it tumble down a long slope, and had gingerly made his way down to fetch it. All the while, he had glanced about warily, his ears pricked for the sounds of danger – the growl of a stalking wolf, the whistle of a barbarian arrow, the guttural cry of some axe-swinging, goat-headed beastman.

He had found his pick at the bottom of a deep, dark valley, shrouded with trees that stretched upwards and all but blocked out the sky. Straightening after picking it up and looping it back into his belt, Kurt had spotted the flash of grey, and his curiosity had gotten the better of his caution.

Now he stood before the statue, hesitating. Behind the statue, was a doorway carved into the rock of a rugged cliff. He had seen dwarven craftwork before, but never looking this old or abandoned – or as broken.

It must have been the long passage of time, combined with a rockslide crashing down from above, that had smashed a hole in the carved door of the mountain. More runes were etched into its rock surface, though Kurt had as much chance of being able to read them as speaking Elvish.

“Hole’s small,” Kurt commented to himself, scratching his cheek. “But you’ve never been the biggest fella have you, Wexler? Be a bit tight around the shoulders, but you could make your way in.”

But the statue and the runes on the door had all the hallmarks of a warning. Something that had been sealed up a very long time ago, with a stern message – stay out.

Kurt was no educated man – he had been born the sixth son of a couple of farmers out Stirland way, and schooling hadn’t been a strong priority in the Wexler household. But he was no fool either, and had developed a keen nose for danger. You needed it, to go prospecting in the dark and distant places of the Old World.

“But that’s also the thing, isn’t it?” Kurt reminded himself softly. “This is a young man’s game, and you need a score. A big one. Less you end up begging on the streets somewhere to earn your bed and board.”

He had never had time to get married, nor have any kids. Didn’t own any property, and had no inheritance. The rest of his family had been killed in a Greenskin raid some thirty years ago, so there was nowhere for him to comfortably retire when his creaking limbs finally caught up with him.

That was why he had picked up sticks in the first place, and headed out to Auricsburg when he’d first heard of it. A new town, built in the depths of the Drakwald Forest, where gold had been struck in the nearby hills – it wasn’t for the faint-hearted, being so far from the rest of civilisation, but that had never bothered Kurt. He liked that the rest of the residents of the growing village were much like him – tough, uncomplaining, bold types, who cracked on with the job, without any nosy nobles telling them what to do.

But he hadn’t had the luck that some of the others had. He hadn’t found any gold – at least, not yet – and time was running out. He knew in his bones that he didn’t have much more in him, that he would need to score big or go back to Altdorf, and throw himself on the mercy of the Shallyans.

So, the broken door with its stern, dwarven guard of stone was a warning. But it was also an opportunity. What if there were riches inside – gold, jewels?

“Just a quick peek, in and out,” Kurt reasoned with himself. “Any sign of b***y traps or cursed chests, and you’ll be straight out again. No harm, no foul.”

He took a deep breath, said a quick prayer to Sigmar and Taal and Ulric for good measure, checked his trusty tools – pick, axe, lantern, rope, flint, powder – and gave a long, apologetic bow to the statue, and approached the hole in the door. A rope throw, a quick climb, and a squeeze through the jagged gap, and he was inside, in the darkness.

He lit his lantern, and glanced around warily, light on his feet and ready to run. But there was nothing amongst the leaping shadows – except the ruins of grandeur that made him gape in wonder and timidity.

Though dark and covered in dust, there was no mistaking the austere beauty and scope of a dwarvish mine. No cheap, ramshackle human construction of shaky wooden struts and sagging ceilings, this – this was a realm of proud stone, immaculately shaped and holding strong, centuries after its apparent abandonment.

He was in a vast antechamber, whose size would dwarf most Sigmarite temples. More statues of gruff dwarves glared down at him from their alcoves. Off the antechamber, tunnels were painstakingly dug into the earth, bare sconces where torches once blazed lining the walls. They stretched away further than his little lantern could possibly illuminate.

Feeling very small, Kurt felt tears pricking his eyes, and wiped them away. “Time enough to gawp later,” he told himself gruffly. “Let’s get on with it.”

There was certainly nothing to frighten him, as far as he could tell. No gnawed bones, no wailing ghosts. It was as if the inhabitants had simply packed up one day, sealed up the entrance, and left, purely on some dwarfish whim.

So he picked one of the tunnels at random, and made his way along it, the lantern throwing up long walls of carved stone and carefully etched runes every few feet.

“Maybe marking distance?” Kurt mused aloud. “Or noting what they found.”

He walked for what he guessed was ten minutes, but which he reasoned could be hours in the deep places of the world, where sun and sky did not touch. The tunnel was so steady and uniform, unchanging. It felt oddly safe and reassuring after the eerie depths of the Drakwald Forest.

And then, up ahead, a glint flashed in the reflected lantern light. Kurt’s heart skipped a beat, and he hurried on, hoping desperately.

“Oh, Sigmar bless me,” he breathed, gazing upon what he had longed to find.

Gold. A long, unbroken vein of it, stretching majestically across the grey expanse of stone. Untapped, gleaming softly. Kurt’s eyes were wet again, and he let out a sob of joy, clamping his hand over his mouth.

Gold, gold, gold – he was saved! The village of Auricsburg would pay through the nose for a discovery like this, and he would be right alongside them, pulling the precious metal from the walls of the mine in great handfuls. And where there was gold, there would surely be other valuable metals – silver, iron, copper. A bounty of riches.

His mind racing, he made himself be calm, and to think rationally – he would need to carefully mark his steps back down the tunnel towards the entrance, and then be sure of the route back to Auricsburg. There would be no value in his discovery if he couldn’t lead the villagers back with him.

He was so giddy with his thoughts, so eager, that it took him a moment or three to realise he could hear a sound. The first sound – other than the tread of his own feet, the crackle of the little candle in the lantern, and his own breathing – that he had heard since entering the mine.

It was a cry. Quiet, distant, but distinct. He couldn’t tell if it was human, animal, or otherwise, but he could tell by the soft, whimpering nature of it that it was a cry of pain, distress, despair.

He cocked his head, listening intently. He reckoned it was coming from somewhere further down the tunnel. It was muffled, as if behind a door.

Kurt hestitated. He knew he should turn back, get back to the entrance, back to the light of day, and make his way back to Auricsburg. He knew there was a good chance it was his mind playing tricks on him, that there couldn’t be anything living deeper in.

“But supposing there is?” Kurt asked himself quietly. “Can’t just leave them down here, all alone. Could be hurt.”

So, sighing at himself, and hefting his axe, he slowly advanced, creeping, hunched, his lantern held high. He considered calling out, but he realised he was absurdly afraid of hearing his own voice, loudly echoing back at him.

He inched forward, the golden line in the wall coming with him. Kurt’s palms were slick with sweat, and his mouth was dry.

Every time he stopped, or glanced back where he had come, the cry came again. Each time it was a little louder, a little more pitiful. There was definitely something nearby, and it was desperately sad.

So Kurt steeled himself, and pressed on. Until he came to the door.

It was down a side tunnel, as if the dwarfs had abruptly turned off from their main thrust, and then just as suddenly cut off their progress. The door was carved into the rock, covered with runes like the entrance to the mine. There were no statues here, only insistent markings – but just like the entrance, the doors were broken.

Only it looked like something within, had burst out. The great stone doors were cracked and sat in pieces before the gaping hole. And the crying was coming from within.

Trembling, Kurt raised his lantern high, gripped his axe tight, and stepped forward.

“Hello?” he heard himself call out. “Is anyone there? I’m a friend. I can help.”

The light crept forward, illuminating another long stretch of tunnel. He couldn’t see anyone, no frightened creature or man huddled in the dark.

But he could see a glow, glinting in the walls. Not gold, but a strange, shimmering green.

Kurt had never seen a shade like that before.

“Well,” he heard himself say, as he carefully set down his axe, and stepped forward to peer at the strange stone. “That must be worth something.”