"Even the Reikwald has always been dangerous, from what I hear." Cyrdic said, letting out a breath in the cooling air of the night. "I'd think it would be a blow to morale if even the Emperor and his armsmen couldn't protect the roads or rivers so close to Altdorf." But of course the Witch Hunters and Courts couldn't acknowledge someone else is doing their job better than them. Perhaps they were spending too much coin on foreign campaigns against Chaos incursions. 

"Oh, the countryside around here is full of unrest, but the rivers run safe I'd wager." Reiner said, crossing his arms and looking out into the forest. "We should be in Marienburg within a few days, or le-" 

A sudden jerk in motion caused all three of them to whip forward with an intense momentum, nearly sending them straight off the groaning barge. Cyrdic grabbed Camilla's arm, keeping her lithe frame from slipping off, having grabbed the handrail on instinct. Reiner had hit the rail, but kept himself upright with but a grimace. 

The barge had not halted, but it had slowed considerably. Cyrdic's first reaction was they had hit a rock, but he felt whatever had halted the barge give a little, as if it let go because the weight of the vessel was too large to halt entirely. Which meant it was either an underwater tree that had bent or snapped, or it was something living... 

"What in blazes?" Reiner hissed, looking about. 

"SAVE MOI! EE' HAZ ME IN IZ CLAWZ!" A man screamed, his brettonian accent thick, cutting through the still night air. Suddenly from across the deck there was a splash, and the man's screams were suddenly silenced. 

The barge groaned again, and men began to stir and call out. The sound of steel was drawn, and weapons being loaded. "Ho! All clear on the north side!" 

"Where is Louis!?" another voice cried. 

"To the east! To the east!" 

Across the deck, a massive fin flopped up atop the deck. In the moonlight, it took the three of them a moment to decipher it wasn't a fin, but a wet, massive arm covered in algae. With an inhuman strength, and a grip that ripped timber, the arm hauled up a shape that was twice the height of a man, and perhaps nearly the same width. Putrid and ugly, the River troll was dripping with water and a thick, dark substance Cyrdic guessed was blood. 

"Sigmar," Cyrdic cursed. 
[@Penny]