Scrum Campaign ~ Weigh Station

Their first trip had them headed to a weigh station a half a day's ride from their Inn.  Guided there by a knowledgable driver and his assitant.  They loaded their gear and supplies into the cart, tied down the steamjack and headed out to find clues to track down their bounty.

Arriving at the weigh station almost made them feel like they were entering a ghost town.  A small cluster of buildings stood in the open area all surrounding an official looking building used to catalog each item being transported through.  The driver pulled up to the shop and reminded them that the CVI's information led them to this point.

The three entered the shop to find it deserted except for the man behind the counter.  As Goris walked up to interrogate the man, Hatred walked around the outside of the building, while Krieg inspected the inside.  Hatred quickly returned finding nothing in his search while Krieg continued to study a way too clean looking fireplace with... what? Dhunian rune carvings along one side.

The man behind the counter was shaking and Goris noticed that the man was only pretending to go through his log.  As Goris began asking the man questions intimidating him successfully but without yielding anything helpful he started to walk over to Krieg to see if he could help.

Almost immediately the man jerked a rifle from under the counter and leveled it at Goris.  Goris pulled his pistols on him Hatred grabbed his axe and Krieg... well watched the action.  The man said that he had no choice, that they would kill him if they wouldn't leave and that no matter what they did to him he couldn't help them.  Krieg chose this moment to tell Goris about the runes and while the three Trolls shifted their attention the man took the opportunity to run for his life.

Deciding the runes were more important the three stayed to inspect it further.  Kreig taking the initative reached out and touched the rune carvings as if they were buttons and even pulled on them and the edge of the fireplace a little.  There was a loud clicking sound and the whole fireplace exploded into a hail of shrapnel.  Krieg taking the brunt of the explosion hit the floor moaning but alive.  Goris took a large peice of stone in his arm but barely noticed as he attended Krieg.  Hatreds reflexes were good promting him to attempt a dive over the counter top to avoid the blast.  As he jumped his foot caught the counter edge and he went head first over the counter top.. thus avoiding the blast completely.

As the dust settled they found a small room behind the now destroyed fireplace wall most of its contents destroyed in the blast, the three of them were able to pooled their abilities to find what appeared to be a map of some sort of shipping operation.  They were'nt able to find more than that and had no idea where to look. Hatred took the opportunity to walk around the building once more to see what he could find while Goris and Krieg decided to go back to the cart and see if the drive or hand could help.   Turns out the driver knew the place having had done deliveries there years in the past.  He doubted his previous employers still worked there but he knew he could get them to the right spot.

Hatred's walk around the building proved more useful this time as he noticed a thick wire coming from the back of the building into what appeared to be a box made out of some sort of clockwork device.  Thinking he was on to something he reached down to the wire and tugged on it a little so he could follow it better.  Upon tugging the wire the box made a click, then a whirring, then a kerplunk... then.. the whole building exploded.  Hatred was thrown from his feet and knocked nearly twelve feet away landing on the ground unconcious.

 On the other side of the building Goris was able to dive safely behind the cart, Krieg following him with some shrapnel bouncing harmlessly off his armor.  The driver of the cart was also able to dive to safety but as the dust settled the helper was found severly injured, his left arm now missing below the elbow.

They Stopped his bleeding and woke up Hatred, since the hand was now hurt, they loaded the cart themselves as the driver agreed to take them to the place on the map.  It was a day's ride so the group used the opportunity to rest as best they could.  Hatred and Krieg riding in the cart with their supplies while Goris and his trusty Tuffalo scouted around.

Hopefully they would have more luck when they found the small shipping operation their driver led them to.