Cursed Weapons (Version 2) - A Cross-DLC campaign

For historical reasons you can find version 1 here: Cursed Weapons - A suggestion for Bögenhafen

Basically, it was meant as an addition for the Bögenhafen DLC, separated in three steps depending on work labour and how it would be doable within lore. Beside the small intro section, it was more of a mechanical addition to the game.

Now in version 2, it is less about a mechanical addition but more like a map-centered addition to the game. The start of the “campaign” will be similar though.

The story

The sanctum where we found the Blightreaper has actually just been a fill-in. There is a better guarded and more secure space under the temple where the sword was meant to be sealed originally. However, due to the cursef magic of the Blightreaper the Beast of Bögenhafen (you know the one from the image) has found its way into the inner sanctum where the Blightreaper orignally was placed and also where Father Krausmann hid his research. By sheer luck or sheer skill Father Krausmann managed to trap the Beast of Bögenhafen below the church and even managed to take away the Blightreaper. In the process though, he got wounded. In his wounded state he still managed to go upstairs, seal the catacombs, seal away the Blightreaper, seal the church and run away with the key as far as possible before he rotted away due to the wound he received.

Gameplay-wise this means, that we have no to do the reverse process and access the inner sanctum, defeat the Beast and get access to Father Krausmann’s research.

What to do

The basic idea is that you can chose a second way out of the sanctum.

So after you pick up the Blightreaper, you can blow up the wooden planks shown in the image (they are … um… somehow magical and first need to be weakened by the rotten power of the Blightreaper) and use a second way out which does not lead to a Waystone but instead to the area below the church, the inner sanctum. The level would begin with a gauntlet event where Chaos Hordes would stream endlessy from behind, trying to kill you. As you are still carrying the Blightreaper the whole level would be with THP only. After escaping for some meters you will reach some kind of underground arena where the Beast is trapped and where you can fight it. The map will end with the group killing the Beast of Bögenhafen.

The seven Chaos Runeswords

As mentioned by one of the in-game dialogues between the characters there appears to be seven Chaos Runeswords similar to the Blightreaper. And this is what Father Krausmann researched in the inner sanctum where we found his notes as well as a second sword similar to the Blightreaper however without its cursed power. As the research was coded it will take a while before we can get the gits of it. However, with the knowledge of the seven swords Lohner starts out searching for more information to get rid of them (for convenience sake, we will ignore how most of them are conveniently close to us already; let’s just say they are drawn to each other):

  • The first one to react is an old acquaintance: Christoph Engel. In Vermintide 1, the U5 were tasked by Engel to search a number of artifacts in order to renew a spell. Truth is, the spell was meant to hide away another one of the Runeswords. As the seal is temporary limited, Christoph Engel ask Lohner to enter once more the Wizards Tower in Ubersreik and retrieve the cursed piece of metal. For this we need to break the seal which of course will invite the pact sworn.

  • The fourth sword is with the Beastmen. This information can either be found at the grave where you find the amulet or in the abandoned mine. Afterwards a new map will open where the U5 have to infiltrate a Beastmen Camp and get the sword from them. As Dark Omens was never intended as a Beastmen “exclusive” map this would give us the chance to make a map just with them.

  • The fifth sword was taken to the Weaves by Ubersrom. If we progress far enough in the Weaves and by inspecting Ubersrom’s machines Olesya will find traces of it, opening up a new Weave map where we have to find it, hidden behind numerous layers of traps and machinery of Ubersrom as well as a weird mixture of different Winds (mainly Azyr to power the machines and Ulgu to hide the swords presence)

  • The sixth and seven sword I couldn’t decide for somehow. The lazy solution would be that the swords would be already with Chaos and we had another infiltration map like War Camp. Alternatively, you could give one to the Skaven or hide it in Drachenfels (the castle is so cursed a sword more or less wouldnt make a difference). Maybe it could even be inside a Dragon’s nest. Are there Dragons in the Reikland and are they hoarding stuff?

The final

After acquiring all seven swords, Olesya has decoded Father Krausmann’s research notes and found out how the one sword has lost its power. As the Runeswords have been blacksmith by a Dwarven Runesmith, they can also “destroyed” by one (or atleast by its equipment). This means another voyage to one of the Karak’s (probably Skaven infested again). However, in order to destroy them you need another Dwarven artifact of power, the Izgaraz. So the mission can only be started after completing Fortunes of War.
With this said, it is time to backpack the swords and decend into the Karak. As the swords are cursed we would play the whole mission with the THP effect to make it super annoying. The mission would end in the Runesmith part of the Karak using a ritual to destroy the swords with the power of the Dwarven luckstone.

For convenience sake and to let the trophy room be less empty, just make it so that the swords only lose their power and the stone loses it glimmer. So they can still be used as trophies. It is a sidenote though.

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Reply to myself: Maybe now that Drachenfels completed and we are more eager to look at possible future projects, this may find more interest than before.

Bonus point: It will most likely be less heated than most other discussions at the moment.

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