Karls and scents.pdf

Karls and Scents

Credits

Original Scenario Concept and Writing :

Editing and Reworking :

Fahri Alp ‘Biff’ Kilic

Fahri Alp Kilic, Parnell ‘Deadman’ Hayes,

Cover and Interior Illustrations :

Map Artwork :

Greg ‘Gip’ Gilmore

Graham ‘Damage Sponge’ Gilmore,

Greg Gilmore

Parnell Hayes

Graham Gilmore

Scenario Layout :

Attribute Templates :

Skaven Consultant :

Gaming Gophers and Slaaneshi Eunuchs :

David ‘Jyst Dave’ McBride,

Phil ‘Elvis’ Welford

Contents

Introduction ........................................................... 3

Background ............................................................ 3

Kreutzhofen and the Gilded Nose ................... 3

Il Verme ................................................................. 4

Roads Less Travelled ........................................... 5

The Finest of Scents ............................................ 7

Bumps In The Night ............................................ 8

A Fine Morning .................................................. 10

Skaven Stewing ................................................... 13

Some Honesty? ................................................... 14

Hey Nulny Nulny! ............................................. 15

Karls & Scents ..................................................... 15

Guglielmo’s Delivery ........................................ 18

Stinking Suspicions ........................................... 19

Pietr Gresch ......................................................... 21

Precipitous Solutions ........................................ 21

Plotting Foils and Foiled Plots ...................... 24

...And Then There Were Thousands? ............ 25

Guide to Experience Awards ........................... 25

GM’s Aids ......................................................... 26

Karls & Scents

Introduction

in the Imperial army. An ambush by Beast-

men just West of Sylvannia robbed him of his

nose but he still managed to ﬁght on, saving

the lives of the people in his charge. One was

the daughter of an Earl of Wissenland. In his

gratitude, the father of the young lady pro-

vided Hermann with a ﬁne, silver nose. Her-

mann is sometimes seen polishing it, keep-

ing it clean and sterling. It is a point of some

pride and the subject of many conversations

for Hermann. Upon his discharge (due in no

small part to the prompting of his noble bene-

factor), Hermann took what savings he had,

and the goodwill of the Earl, and purchased a

modest Inn in Kretzhofen. He thought that its

location near several mountain passes might

be good for business. He was bang on.

Karls and Scents is an adventure for 3-

5 characters, preferably ones on their second

careers, though clever and lucky players in

their ﬁrst careers could still do quite well. It

starts oﬀ in the southwest corner of the Em-

pire, where the Grey and Black Mountains

collide, and dangerous passes lead the fool-

hardy and ambitious into dangerous foreign

lands. It begins in and around the township

of Kreutzhofen and leads the party north

through the valleys of Wissenland to a climax

in Nuln. It involves merchants, nobility and,

of course, the Dark Powers. It also has a light,

musky scent, with a hint of spice and a caress

of violets.

Background

The players arrive and meet Hermann

as they enter the Inn. He sits on a tall stool

next to a desk, nose in one hand, polishing

rag in the other. When the PCs approach, he

says, “Ohb, ebscuze be!” and reseats his nose

on his face. He clears his throat and says, in

a less nasally voice, “’Ow might I assist you

ﬁne gents?”

The PCs are traveling South from the

city of Nuln and have reached the township of

Kreutzhofen. They could be en route to either

the Border Princes via the passes in the Black

Mountains, Bretonnia by way of the Montdi-

dier Pass or even the somber Dwarvish keep

of Khazid Grentas. Whatever their inevitable

destination, the players have stopped to rest

in Kreutzhofen, looking for some simple hos-

pitality. Instead, they ﬁnd Señor Domingo

Ammuﬁto, an edgy Tilean merchant with a

valuable and rare prize that he is fearfully

guarding.

Hermann makes small talk with the

players as he ﬁlls in his register, asking where

they’re from, if they’ve been on the road long,

if there’s any news they’ve heard from Altdorf

or Nuln. Once the players take care of their ac-

commodations, they are invited by Hermann

to take a seat in the common room. He urges

them to try some of his widely renowned sau-

sage pies, an invention of the resident chef.

Anyone not eating can make a Hard (-20%)

Perception test to notice a strange, though not

unpleasant fragrance that occasionally wa�s

into a player’s nose. The common room is rea-

sonably well lit since it is the middle of the day

and all of the shu�ers are open. Still, there is

enough shadow in the place to obscure a form

si�ing against the far wall. Players who make

a Diﬃcult (-10%) Perception test can notice a

slight, shi�y ﬁgure si�ing in the shadows to-

wards the back of the common room, away

from where the light from the open windows

cuts across the room.

Kreutzhofen and

The Gilded Nose

If the PCs look for accommodation as

soon as they arrive in Kreutzhofen, they can

ﬁnd rooms available at the Gilded Nose, an

Inn run by a veteran of the Empire named

Hermann Schlumph. Poor Hermann was

unlucky enough to catch a mace in the face a

few years earlier when he was still a sergeant

Karls & Scents

Hermann Schlumph

Il Verme

( Señor Domingo Ammufito )

scent ever created!” Señor Ammuﬁto stands

up straight again and continues his tale.

“Where was I ? Oh, yes, well you see,

I have a colleague in Nuln, a fellow country-

man and maestro profumatore, who is await-

ing the samples and the list of ingredients

that I have in my possession. Unfortunate-

ly, I suspect that someone knows that I have

items of unique value on my person, and they

have been following me since I le� Tilea. The

group I travelled with through the mountains

was ambushed and killed! I was barely able

to escape with my life! If it had not been for

some brave and kind Bretonnian Knights, I

very well might not have survived! I apol-

ogize, but I overheard that you are familiar

with the roads in these lands, and even my

untrained eyes can see that you are all brave

and noble souls.

The mysterious guest, shrouded in

shadow, sits still until the players have ﬁn-

ished eating any meals they might have or-

dered and waits until Hermann has moved

back to his perch near the entrance before

cautiously walking over to the players’ table.

“Uh… Scuzi Señors, I… I do not mean

to bother you, but I believe you may be the

answer to my prayers.

“Ah, but I am being rude. I am Señor

Domingo Ammuﬁto, a merchant of some

renown in my homeland. I deal in only the

most rare and precious treasures of the senses,

which is why I ﬁnd myself here, so far from

my home. You see, I was traveling from the

ﬁne city of Miragliano in Tilea, on my way to

Nuln, with some… “ and with this, the slight

frame of the merchant leans in close and whis-

pers, “…very rare colonia, perhaps the ﬁnest

“I beseech you to consider an oﬀer I

have. If you will escort me to Nuln, where I

might meet my contact and deliver my goods,

I would be most happy to pay each of you 15,

no 20 gold coins! As well, I would consider it

Karls & Scents

an honour to speak with my amigo in Nuln

and have each of you receive a scent of your

choice from his wide selection of perfumes

and oils. Please Señors, consider my oﬀer.

All I have is invested in the wares I carry. If I

cannot deliver them to Nuln, I will surely be

le� ruined… .”

substances. Everyone suspected that he was

some type of Sorcerer, or simply insane, and

gave him a wide berth. Guglielmo, however,

had his curiosity piqued. He arranged to meet

with this gentleman to see if some accommo-

dation might be reached, to Guglielmo’s ad-

vantage and good fortune of course. As for-

tune (good or otherwise) would have it, the

gentleman said that he was a researcher with

some Golden school or other and did indeed

require the help of a well-connected local to

help him “navigate the waters.” Il Verme

was particularly good at procuring some of

the more expensive items from the wealthy

merchants of Miragliano, which didn’t exact-

ly endear him to the ranking family of the lo-

cal thieves guild. But Guglielmo ﬁgured that,

once he was paid for his work, the cut they

got would be more than enough to smooth

any feathers that may have been ruﬄed by

his initiative. This is where things start to go

wrong.

During his spiel, the players may make

a Routine (+10%) Perception test to notice a

sweet, spicy smell coming oﬀ the merchant.

Players who noticed the odour earlier recog-

nize it as one and the same. If players show

even a mild interest in Ammuﬁto’s oﬀer, he

continues to plead with them. With a success-

ful Hard (-20%) Haggle test, the group can get

the merchant to agree to pay for sundries for

the traveling, up to 5 GCs worth per person,

things such as rations, blankets, torches and

other items that would be used by the group

to facilitate the trip to Nuln. Personal items,

weapons and non-travel related items are still

the players ‘ responsibilities. If, however, the

players seem hesitant or disinterested, the

Tilean will develop a sullen expression, thank

the group for their time, return to his table

and appear to sink into a sulk for the rest of

the day and evening. He will sip his wine and

not talk with any other patrons who frequent

the Inn.

Notably, upon returning to his patron’s

rented home one evening, Guglielmo found

the man quite dead. Shredded, in fact. And

his home had been ransacked, with his labo-

ratory being the worse for wear. At ﬁrst, he

thought it might have been the syndicate,

demonstrating their displeasure at having

been kept out of the loop. They were, howev-

er, businessmen above all else, and thus kill-

ing the hand that feeds you was bad business.

No, something else was at work here.

At this point, the players might think of Am-

muﬁto as an interesting distraction to their

day, but there is considerably more to this

“merchant” than has been revealed. Namely,

the merchant Domingo Ammuﬁto isn’t. He

is Tilean, and he is a Charlatan named Gug-

lielmo Baducci, also known as Il Verme (The

Worm), as he has a knack for ge�ing himself

oﬀ the hook. Unfortunately for Il Verme, this

time he’s been skewered.

Guglielmo had always been observant,

and in previous visits to his former benefac-

tor’s home had noticed numerous candles in

and about the place. In a peasant home this

might seem appropriate, but the household of

a gentleman of means would almost certainly

be lit with oil lamps. More curious were the

droplets of purple wax under the nails of his

former employer’s corpse lying on the stone

ﬂoor in the entrance to the laboratory. The

rogue searched the workshop, the hall, the

study and most of the rest of the home before

he found a small wooden box, ﬁnely cra�ed

and brass clasped, cached on an upper shelf

in the kitchen’s pantry. Six ﬁne, deep-purple

Roads Less Travelled

Back in Miragliano some 3 months ear-

lier, Guglielmo picked up rumours of a vis-

iting “gentleman” who had been quietly in-

quiring among less reputable sources about

strange, rare, and in some cases, forbidden

Karls & Scents

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