Last time we left our team of German sailors breaking into a crofter's hut on the remote Hebrides island of Lesser Morr (jokingly known as 'Little Morr' to the local inhabitants). On a top secret mission to test radio direction finding equipment they have discovered a dead body in the cellar of a ruined Scottish castle and lost their senior officer...
Who are our stalwart heroes of the German Kriegsmarine?
The crofter was able to tell the sailors that a group of four people - university academics - had been poking around on the island a year earlier. He claimed not to know more than that, although when asked, was able to direct the sailors towards the stone circle at the southern end of the island. As it happened, the crofter knew a LOT more than that, but did not want to incriminate himself and just wanted to be left in peace. He suspected these men were not investigators as they claimed, but his first priority was to keep the children alive. I should probably have used the crofter's dog more offensively, but suspected it would have been slaughtered in short order as two of the Germans were carrying SMGs. I liked the way Seehofer and von der Leyen communicated in French in front of the crofter, and used English in front of Hagedorn, who spoke no English.
While on guard Hagedorn thought he heard a dog howling in the distance. The sailors decided to return to the castle, as it was getting dark. On the way back they thought they could all hear howling and it was Seehofer who spotted the tracks of a very large dog in the snow. They hurried back to the castle, and upon entering, found large letters in blood splashed on one wall saying HELP ME.
Scholz was still working on the radio and completely oblivious to the writing. He was able to report more of the strange language had intruded onto the radio waves, and that the U-boats were now tracking a convoy that had left the Irish Sea, heading north.
Von der Leyen examined the writing more closely and while he was doing so, the words GET ME OUT appeared on the wall. Sanity checks all around for this one. The team decided to move their camp into the cellar and move the dead woman's body out into the snow. The radio stayed where it was.
While this was happening, Steinmeier returned to the castle. He was impressed with the writing but did not seem as shocked as the other sailors. He accepted there were strange things happening on the island. He confirmed the man in tweed spotted by Hagedorn was Boskell, a British spy who was working with the Germans, whom Steinmeier had been to meet. He said that the sailors would shortly have a new mission and seemed very excited about it. Von der Leyen raised the issue of the dead woman - Steinmeier examined the body and speculated that she had been sacrificed in a ritual of some kind. He then produced an ornate knife which the sailors had not seen before, claiming the knife he owned could be used in similar rituals. This was about the time the sailors began to lose confidence in the captain.
Steinmeier spent some time poking around in the cellars before going to bed. Seehofer heard a conversation in English on the radio in which he made out the words "See - they are coming! They are coming! How wonderful. Let us go to them."
At some point in the evening Seehofer did manage to speak further with the 'ghost' by writing on the wall himself, but for the life of me can't remember what was said. Ultimately, the ghost was trying to get itself released. More on who the ghost actually was later. The sailors thought they were being haunted by the dead woman they had found. This was not the case.
The sailors again took turns on watch, with someone also constantly monitoring the radio traffic. During the night it began snowing heavily. and the U-boats attacked the convoy north of Ireland, sinking two ships. The rest of the convoy got away. Von der Leyen woke at about 0400 and took a stroll, only to encounter the spectre of a well-dressed man in a suit, holding a macintosh, lurking at the entrance to the castle. The man turned around and walked away through the castle's curtain wall, vanishing from sight. Von der Leyen was fairly shaken up. Nobody else saw the spectre.
The sailors accompanied Steinmeier across the island towards the stone circle. They saw a lone woman atop the crag at the highest point of the island. They pointed her out to Steinmeier, but he seemed unperturbed. Hidden amidst the heather that covered the southern third of the island, they found an ancient stone circle. Many of the monoliths were covered in etchings, although most were hard to make out. Steinmeier pointed out that one had been damaged, and Von der Leyen confirmed some sort of explosive had been used. Steinmeier said that they would need to repair the stone, and that he had sent Boskell across to Greater Morr to buy some cement and a shovel.
Von der Leyen realised the date was 20 December and that this had occult significance. Seehofer had walked into the circle, and noticed that it made sound from outside the circle much more muffled. Seehofer and Von der Leyen went down to the beach on the eastern side of the island to meet Boskell, who had rowed back across from the larger island with the cement. It was getting dark. The sailors speculated that they might need paraffin to start a fire as it might be impossible to mix the cement in the freezing temperatures.
Leaving Boskell trying to mix the cement, the three sailors headed back to the castle to fetch paraffin lamps. On the way they discussed the situation, becoming increasingly concerned that Steinmeier might be about to sacrifice one of them to fuel his mad scheme. IIRC they now left one of their number, Seehofer, at the castle. It may also be Seehofer returned to the castle earlier (to fetch paraffin), while the other two went to help with the cement sacks. Von der Leyen listened for a while to the radio traffic and was able to make out voices speaking in Gaelic.
Hagedorn and Von der Leyen now returned to the stone circle, taking with them some dynamite originally intended to help them destroy the radio equipment should the need arise. It was dark and they could hear a dull thrumming noise that seemed to almost travel through the ground. Reaching the circle, they could see that some cement had been applied to the damaged stone, and that Steinmeier was there, etching something into the fast-setting concrete. The stones were now glowing a dull blue.
Hagedorn now took matters into his own hands, running up to Steinmeier and shooting him the back at point blank range with his rifle. Steinmeier died immediately, although some of his blood spilled into the circle. As soon as this happened, the sailors started to make out the outlines of a group of people standing inside the circle, and in front of them the silhouette of a huge dog, which stepped forward to lap at the blood of the slain Steinmeier. The figures and the dog became slightly more substantial as the sailors watched, but did not seem able to leave the circle.
A search of Steinmeier's body recovered the dagger he had shown to Von der Leyen as well as recovering a pistol and some extra ammo. But there was no sign of Boskell anywhere. The sailors headed down to the beach check to see if his boat was still concealed where they had left it. The boat was still in place: he was on the island...it was approaching midnight. The stones were still glowing.
Next time - the Final Resolution and designer's notes
Who are our stalwart heroes of the German Kriegsmarine?
- Stabsgefreiter Helmut Hagedorn - dockworker and radio operator, volunteered for the submarine service, assigned to U51
- Bootsmann Horst Scholz - spare player character in case anyone else got killed, Scholz spent most of his time on the radio monitoring a convoy in the Irish Sea
- Midshipman Rudiger Seehofer - shore-based signals specialist, grumpy and keeps to himself, did a great job setting up the radio equipment
- Oberleutenant Michael von der Leyen - son of a decorated WW1 submarine commander who was lost at sea in 1917, comes from an aristocratic Prussian family
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| Crofter not cooperating |
While on guard Hagedorn thought he heard a dog howling in the distance. The sailors decided to return to the castle, as it was getting dark. On the way back they thought they could all hear howling and it was Seehofer who spotted the tracks of a very large dog in the snow. They hurried back to the castle, and upon entering, found large letters in blood splashed on one wall saying HELP ME.
Scholz was still working on the radio and completely oblivious to the writing. He was able to report more of the strange language had intruded onto the radio waves, and that the U-boats were now tracking a convoy that had left the Irish Sea, heading north.
Von der Leyen examined the writing more closely and while he was doing so, the words GET ME OUT appeared on the wall. Sanity checks all around for this one. The team decided to move their camp into the cellar and move the dead woman's body out into the snow. The radio stayed where it was.
While this was happening, Steinmeier returned to the castle. He was impressed with the writing but did not seem as shocked as the other sailors. He accepted there were strange things happening on the island. He confirmed the man in tweed spotted by Hagedorn was Boskell, a British spy who was working with the Germans, whom Steinmeier had been to meet. He said that the sailors would shortly have a new mission and seemed very excited about it. Von der Leyen raised the issue of the dead woman - Steinmeier examined the body and speculated that she had been sacrificed in a ritual of some kind. He then produced an ornate knife which the sailors had not seen before, claiming the knife he owned could be used in similar rituals. This was about the time the sailors began to lose confidence in the captain.
 |
| Capt. Steinmeier |
Steinmeier spent some time poking around in the cellars before going to bed. Seehofer heard a conversation in English on the radio in which he made out the words "See - they are coming! They are coming! How wonderful. Let us go to them."
At some point in the evening Seehofer did manage to speak further with the 'ghost' by writing on the wall himself, but for the life of me can't remember what was said. Ultimately, the ghost was trying to get itself released. More on who the ghost actually was later. The sailors thought they were being haunted by the dead woman they had found. This was not the case.
The sailors again took turns on watch, with someone also constantly monitoring the radio traffic. During the night it began snowing heavily. and the U-boats attacked the convoy north of Ireland, sinking two ships. The rest of the convoy got away. Von der Leyen woke at about 0400 and took a stroll, only to encounter the spectre of a well-dressed man in a suit, holding a macintosh, lurking at the entrance to the castle. The man turned around and walked away through the castle's curtain wall, vanishing from sight. Von der Leyen was fairly shaken up. Nobody else saw the spectre.
The sailors accompanied Steinmeier across the island towards the stone circle. They saw a lone woman atop the crag at the highest point of the island. They pointed her out to Steinmeier, but he seemed unperturbed. Hidden amidst the heather that covered the southern third of the island, they found an ancient stone circle. Many of the monoliths were covered in etchings, although most were hard to make out. Steinmeier pointed out that one had been damaged, and Von der Leyen confirmed some sort of explosive had been used. Steinmeier said that they would need to repair the stone, and that he had sent Boskell across to Greater Morr to buy some cement and a shovel.
Von der Leyen realised the date was 20 December and that this had occult significance. Seehofer had walked into the circle, and noticed that it made sound from outside the circle much more muffled. Seehofer and Von der Leyen went down to the beach on the eastern side of the island to meet Boskell, who had rowed back across from the larger island with the cement. It was getting dark. The sailors speculated that they might need paraffin to start a fire as it might be impossible to mix the cement in the freezing temperatures.
Leaving Boskell trying to mix the cement, the three sailors headed back to the castle to fetch paraffin lamps. On the way they discussed the situation, becoming increasingly concerned that Steinmeier might be about to sacrifice one of them to fuel his mad scheme. IIRC they now left one of their number, Seehofer, at the castle. It may also be Seehofer returned to the castle earlier (to fetch paraffin), while the other two went to help with the cement sacks. Von der Leyen listened for a while to the radio traffic and was able to make out voices speaking in Gaelic.
Hagedorn and Von der Leyen now returned to the stone circle, taking with them some dynamite originally intended to help them destroy the radio equipment should the need arise. It was dark and they could hear a dull thrumming noise that seemed to almost travel through the ground. Reaching the circle, they could see that some cement had been applied to the damaged stone, and that Steinmeier was there, etching something into the fast-setting concrete. The stones were now glowing a dull blue.
Hagedorn now took matters into his own hands, running up to Steinmeier and shooting him the back at point blank range with his rifle. Steinmeier died immediately, although some of his blood spilled into the circle. As soon as this happened, the sailors started to make out the outlines of a group of people standing inside the circle, and in front of them the silhouette of a huge dog, which stepped forward to lap at the blood of the slain Steinmeier. The figures and the dog became slightly more substantial as the sailors watched, but did not seem able to leave the circle.
A search of Steinmeier's body recovered the dagger he had shown to Von der Leyen as well as recovering a pistol and some extra ammo. But there was no sign of Boskell anywhere. The sailors headed down to the beach check to see if his boat was still concealed where they had left it. The boat was still in place: he was on the island...it was approaching midnight. The stones were still glowing.
Next time - the Final Resolution and designer's notes
Excellent! I'm sad I missed it.
ReplyDelete"Oops, we killed the cultist and have accidentally completed the ritual" is great fun; I've used it a couple of times.