[WFRP] The Bloody Crown XII

[RossN]

Adelbert and Ludo

Feeling very self-conscious among Ludo's kith and kin (and Valdes, a henchman of the Tilean of old) Adelbert could barely conceal his relief that Ludo was doing the talking. Still he contributed on any details Ludo was vague about.

'Klammenberg is not the threat his master is, but he is still devoted to the lunantic practice of necromancy... and a certain weasel like cunning. If he is around we'll have to be very careful about keeping things private between the people in this room.'

[LCP]

Sieghard, 15th Brauzeit

Sieghard promising no more of Elsa's errands seemed to go down well. Gustaf and some of the others looked a little doubtful when he said they had been the ones to see the danger, but no-one shot back with any more discontented words.

---

Urgrim, 18th Brauzeit

Sforza gave Urgrim a long, hard stare. Urgrim stared innocently back. Sforza kept staring, waiting for a crack to appear in the dwarf's oblivious facade. Urgrim didn't blink.

"...Principe," said Sforza, after about forty seconds of uncomfortable silence. "The word is principe."

Heaving a sigh, he sat back down. "So now I have a... daemon loose in my city, and where is my wizard? Writing letters." He put his head in his hands. "Cazza madre della Myrmidia..."

Remembering Urgrim was there, he looked up at his guest. "Thank you for your information. You may go."

---

Ludo & Adelbert, 19th Brauzeit

Jenssen and Old Gill seemed happy to leave the strategising to others, but Ludo's father had always assumed he was the most important person in the room - as they repaired to the snuggery at the back of the Rooster, he followed them and drew up a chair. He listened to Ludo's report from the east with an expression of arch skepticism - but as he saw how seriously Valdes was taking it all, his conviction that his son was telling tall tales started to waver.

"So tell me... you said you thought Klammenberg was nearby?"

Valdes nodded, taking a breath before he began.

"...Your sister remembers nothing about Klammenberg. Not sending you her warning, not even why she was watching for him in the first place. But, it sounds like he has been here. We have multiple witnesses who say they saw in a foreign stranger in town, trying to recruit some of our retired veterans for a venture into the desert."

"Four men went with him. The old Iron Company soldiers, they have had to hear about all Captain Sforza's new conquests second-hand. They feel they have been missing out. So when this man comes along with an adventure... but none of them have come back."

"He might be in league with monsters, but this Klammenberg is still a mortal man," Valdes continued, glancing to Adelbert as if for confirmation. "He can't stay out in the Waste forever, and the only route back to water and shelter passes through here. I have put four squads of lookouts on the north side of the ridge, looking for anyone coming from the desert. If he comes back this way, we will catch him."

[Thragka]

Urgrim, 18th Brauzeit

"Principe," Urgrim repeated with another abbreviated bow as he took his leave. He wasn't sure what all the silent staring had been about. As half-carved as the rest of them, that manling.

Leaving the keep, he retraced his steps through the North Market as far as the Duke of Aquitaine. Inside, he went straight to the innkeeper. "Have you got any hot food left at this hour?"

Eating what was available – an ale was tempting, but he decided against it on the grounds that it might send him straight to sleep – and sitting in the indoor warmth, Urgrim found some energy returning to him. He approached the innkeeper again with a proposition. "I'd happily pay to spend the night here, but today's work's not done yet. But I'm likely to be in the city a few days, and I need somewhere people can reach me. If you'd be willing to take any messages for Jotunnsson for the next few days, I'll pay you for the trouble." He put five schillings down as an offer.

Shouldering his pack once more with only a little aching complaint from his arms and back, he began the last stretch of the day's long journey, up the Rock to seek an audience with the Rinn.

[LCP]

Urgrim

"'Course, sir," said the innkeeper, scooping the schillings into his apron. "Jotunssson, you said it was?" He pronounced the name pretty well for a human. "I'll have the boy make you up a room."

A fitful westerly wind was blowing over the rooftops as Urgrim headed out into the gathering dusk, making the Iron Company banners over the castle gates flutter and flap. It blew against Urgrim's back as he made the tiring climb up to the gates of the Dwimmulhold, wrapping his travelling cloak around the back of his legs. The long days of summer were over, and there was a chill to the air that felt sharp and new.

Inside the hold, Urgrim was received as a friend of the clan. Skorgrund was apparently already asleep - at his age, the white-bearded loremaster was very particular about his rest - so the Rinn received him alone. She was dressed simply from a day's work overseeing the mine, and the room she received him in was just another side-chamber in the upper level. It would have been easy for him to forget he was in the presence of nobility - though he supposed by the standards of Barak Varr, Elmendrin would be very minor nobility indeed.

"Good to see you, Jotunnsson," she said. "More news for us, I hear? We've seen the princeling is mustering his army in the low town."

[LeSwordfish]

19th Brauzeit
The last time Herr Klammenberg walked into the desert was on Hexensnacht when it expanded," Ludo said. "That was when the Jackal was first released, we think. I don't know what he's doing there but it might not be safe to just let him do it."

"The sentries have a long view? Hopefully he won't think to cast his forgetfulness spell until he's closer to town and they've had a chance to warn us from outside its range... but we need to be doing regular patrols. Somebody goes to them every hour and tries to jog their memory, asks if they've seen him..."

He reached into his pack and pulled out a few tattered posters of Klammenberg. "We found that using this was enough to remind people."

OOC

Spoiler

Show

And whenever Klammenberg's not on screen, everyone should be asking "where's Klammenberg?"

Hope it's okay for Ludo to have kept a couple of Wanted posters.

[LCP]

Ludo & Adelbert

Valdes took the grimy poster and straightened it out. Looking down at the faded woodcut of Klammenberg's face, he glanced up at Adelbert. "He looks a little like you, padre," he said. He paused. "I'll see this gets to the lookouts."

"You can see for miles from the north side of the hills," said Nobby, "when it's clear. Been a bit hazy lately, though - the wind's raising a lot of dust."

"The enemy brought a dust storm down on us in Nath," said Moltke. "This... could be his work as well."

"Sorry, my dear," said Odo, leaning abruptly forwards in his chair, "who are you? A friend of Ludo's?" He looked around the assembled group. "With all due respect, I'm not how a slip of a girl such as yourself knows so much about necromancers."

Moltke drew herself up, assuming an aristocratic hauteur that would have done Irene proud. "My name is Kateryn Moltke, of the Stirland Moltkes," she said, "and a sworn member of Morr's Knights of the Raven."

"Oh," said Odo. "Well, um... carry on."

"We could try to track him," said Valdes, returning the conversation to Ludo, "but he has quite a head start, and we don't know where he was headed. The wives of the men who went with him say he claimed to have some kind of... treasure map, but they didn't see it themselves."

[LeSwordfish]

Ludo, 18th Brauzeit
Ludo managed to shoot Moltke a look of glowing appreciation for puncturing his father's pomposity. "The last time the desert expanded was the Jackal's awakening, and there's some records of that happening the last time he was active, thousands of years ago... there's some idea of him being thirsty, of drinking the desert. He also caused a disease that caused thirst in its victims in Savonne... Which reminds me - has there been any disease here?"

"We can make some guesses as to where he went. Last time it was the Red Pyramid... this time, maybe there again, or the ruins to the south of that. Or perhaps he's trying to get all the way through the desert to the north, or the ruined villages, Greasy Drop or Turnpik. There's not much reason for him to do that - last we saw him was outside Ravenskird - but it's not impossible."

[LCP]

Ludo & Adelbert

"Which reminds me - has there been any disease here?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary," said Valdes. He looked over to Odo. "Right?"

"Right," said Odo. "This is Last Water, not the city. We have healthy people here."

"We can make some guesses as to where he went. Last time it was the Red Pyramid... this time, maybe there again, or the ruins to the south of that. Or perhaps he's trying to get all the way through the desert to the north, or the ruined villages, Greasy Drop or Turnpike. There's not much reason for him to do that - last we saw him was outside Ravenskird - but it's not impossible."

"There's been no trade on the north road since the new year," said Odo, brusquely cutting across his son. "Path's gone. Impassable. If those Raven Hills fellows can't make the journey, I don't see how this northerner is supposed to do it with four old men." He shook his head. "If he has gone into the desert - if, mind - then surely he'll have gone somewhere close. Stands to reason."

[LeSwordfish]

"He made it through the swamp on his own," Ludo said, with a slightly forced mildness. "But is there anywhere closer than those ruins?"

[LCP]

Ludo & Adelbert

The impromptu council looked around at one another.

"On every map I've seen the desert is just a desert," said Valdes. "What ruins are these?"

"The pillars," said Nobby. "You can - you could see them from the north road sometimes, in summer. Just some old ruins out in the Waste."

"He already woke the Jackal," said Valdes. "He can't wake two jackals, can he?"

[LeSwordfish]

"The jackal went to Nath to search it for something, perhaps there's a weapon or something that he's searching for... Nobby, could you get Gill for us? If anyone knows the old history around here, he will."

OOC

Spoiler

Show

When Gill arrives, Ludo will ask him generally about "treasure" in the desert or any old stories about the ruins.

[LCP]

Ludo & Adelbert

Nobby hurried out to return with Gill. Walking slowly with the help of his stick, the ancient halfling settled into the comfiest chair, next to the unlit fireplace, and listened to Ludo's questions.

"'Fraid that's older history than I am, young Stubbs," he said. "Those ruins have always been there. Why, when I was just a sprog, my granny would tell me there was whole towns and cities out there under the sand, from back when the Waste was green. Appearin' and disappearin' as the dunes shift over 'em."

"'Course, there's a few folks gone looking for it, over the years. I remember a fellow back when I was a young thing like yourself. Trader on the desert road, head full of bold ideas, saw the ruins off to the west and tried to reach 'em. Said he could see the ruins standing by a silver lake, but as he walked towards them they retreated further and further away away. Ran out of water and had to be rescued by one of our caravans. Taught him not to trust the desert, for certain."

"Last lot I heard went out there was some tall folk out of Greasy Drop - must've been four, five years back?" He shrugged. "Never heard if they found anything. They might not've made it back - the Raven Hills folk don't take kindly to people poking about in the Waste."

[Thragka]

Urgrim

"'Course, sir," said the innkeeper, scooping the schillings into his apron. "Jotunssson, you said it was?" He pronounced the name pretty well for a human. "I'll have the boy make you up a room."

"Don't put him to any trouble tonight – I expect I'll be sleeping up the Rock. But thanks," Urgrim replied with an affable nod. He took a deep breath. "Right. The last of my day's endeavours." He rapped a knuckle on the bar to punctuate the declaration as he straightened up. "Good night t'you."

A fitful westerly wind was blowing over the rooftops as Urgrim headed out into the gathering dusk, making the Iron Company banners over the castle gates flutter and flap. It blew against Urgrim's back as he made the tiring climb up to the gates of the Dwimmulhold, wrapping his travelling cloak around the back of his legs. The long days of summer were over, and there was a chill to the air that felt sharp and new.

Inside the hold, Urgrim was received as a friend of the clan. Skorgrund was apparently already asleep - at his age, the white-bearded loremaster was very particular about his rest - so the Rinn received him alone. She was dressed simply from a day's work overseeing the mine, and the room she received him in was just another side-chamber in the upper level. It would have been easy for him to forget he was in the presence of nobility - though he supposed by the standards of Barak Varr, Elmendrin would be very minor nobility indeed.

"Good to see you, Jotunnsson," she said. "More news for us, I hear? We've seen the princeling is mustering his army in the low town."

Good to see you. The pleasantry, even just as etiquette, echoed in a twitch of muscles in his chest. Did it feel good to be back in a hold where he was made feel welcome at the gates, after all that had happened the past week? Urgrim was almost too tired to assess his emotions to decide. He bowed to Elmendrin – a proper bow, not the awkward appeasement he'd shown Sforza.

"Thank you for receiving me so late, Rinn. Unfortunately, it's news I thought I ought not delay getting to you. Myself and my companions in the princeling's efforts against the zangunaz have suffered a grave setback, a grave defeat."

He descibed for Elmendrin the recent events in detail, beginning with the arrival of the Templars of Morr, and the dashing of his (perhaps unwarranted) hopes that their leaders would take the threat more seriously than Sforza had. He described staking out marsh-lights in the swamp, and visiting decrepit and abandoned Rivermouth. The awful week of tracking across the horrid mere, only made bitterer by the revelation of the fate of Caerfort. That recollection was difficult. He had to pause a little while after recounting it. The chase across the southern hills, and holding camp above the cursed city while waiting for the expedition to arrive, and the battle itself, with its ghosts and sands and hopelessness and confusion.

As an epilogue to their utter defeat, he appended what the other scant survivors had said – that only the intervention of a daemon had permitted them any hope of escape. That the same daemon had subsequently followed them from the ruins, attempted to possess one human and succesfully possessed the commander's horse, and how he'd tracked the beast to the low town, and warned the priests and princeling of its presence.

There's one other thing, Rinn." Urgrim took a breath and steeled himself. "In truth, I'm actually glad I get to say this just for your ears, without Skorgrund here – o'course, you'll do with the knowledge what you decide, which I've no quarrel with, but it just makes saying it for the first time easier. Still, I ... my duty compels me to tell this to you, just as your duty informs what you'll do then.

"Þegn Sieghard ... Þegn Sieghard has the runic spear which slew the Black Hound in the previous war. I've seen it, I've seen the dammaz rune etched onto it. He hurt the zangunaz with it in the ruins. They – the humans, and Ludo Stubbs – they've had it for a while, but didn't trust me enough to tell me before. They found it in the ruins the humans call Kheneb-Ptra-Urush, which I believe were the city named Zaraz Irkul to your clan's ancestors. They had previously told me that they'd spoke to an uzkular there, an ancient priestess of the people the Black Hound enslaved. It was she who first told them of the dangers of the Book of Nagash.

"Þegn Sieghard went to great lengths to impress on me that he's not even told the princeling of the existence of such a weapon. I believe him. He asked me not to tell the Dwimmulsons either, to keep the secret, but ... their ways are not our ways. My duty ... is to tell you." Urgrim's eyes fell as he grappled with his commitments. "But, Rinn, if I may be ... if I may risk understepping – he's the best person, human or dwarf, to hold it, and wield it, until the war is done. What was created in friendship once might find power through friendship again. In fact, I'm not so sure it was just a runelord's creation. There're human touches to it, as well as dawi, and something like human runes ..."

When the Rinn had had time to consider that news, Urgrim continued. "Stubbs and I, since a little after the zangunaz attack on the low town, have been considering going back to the ruins of Kheneb, of Zaraz Irkul. We thought it's probably one of the only places we could learn something about the past war, find something that might help us. And now I know that's where they got the spear, I'm even keener. The fire witch had previously asked the princeling for warriors to take an expedition there – without, I fully expect, telling him the full truth – but he'd no interest. Right or wrong, though, umgi wouldn't be much good exploring the city, not while it's thronged with uzkular. But Stubbs, uh, suggested – well, he said 'each dwarf would be worth ten men down in there'. And he's not wrong. It would cost lives, for sure. But –" Urgrim took another deep breath, his intense discomfort with what he was implying evident. "We're sore lacking in any advantage over the zangunaz, and there's nothing else I can think of with the potential to discover a weakness, risky as it is." That was as much as he could say for the moment. Words failed as he watched how the Rinn reacted.

[RossN]

Adelbert & Ludo

Adelbert nodded thoughtfully at all this. 'I think in absence of anything else we'll have to assume he went to the Red Pyramid originally or eventually. Remember the vampire has been wounded and perhaps weakened. I could see him sending his servant back to his resting abode either to gain something to heal him or perhaps destroy any lingering evidence of his weakness?'

[LCP]

Urgrim, 18th Brauzeit

It took some time for Urgrim to finish his tale. Elmendrin sat back in her chair, listening quietly. It was a lot to take in.

When he had finished at last, she exhaled a long breath. “You’ve been of great service to the clan, Jotunnsson,” she said. “I hope one day you can have the happiness of bringing some good news.”

“I don’t know the histories as well as Skorgrund. This spear, Zaraz Irkul… perhaps it will mean more to him. But I do know that if I’m to risk Dwimmulson lives, it has to be for more than blind hope. What is it you know you can find in the marsh, that we don’t already have?” She gave Urgrim a searching look. “The princeling Sforza surely doesn’t intend to let Varag Kol challenge his rulership. If he marches south with all his force, why should we dig up these human tombs, rather than march with him?”

---

Ludo & Adelbert

Nobby shook his head, looking confused. “It’s been more’n a fortnight since Petra sent me to warn Ludo he was here. Wherever he set out from, he must’ve been on his way long before you folks had your battle.”

“Still,” said Valdes, “if the pyramid was where he went before, it stands to reason it may be where he is heading now. Something he could not carry away the first time?” He looked to Adelbert. “But it helps us little to speculate. He has a considerable head start. Even if we guess correctly and go after him, he could be gone long before we arrive.”

[LeSwordfish]

"If he can get to the Red Pyramid, it's a shorter journey to the Raven Hills than it is back here," Ludo said. "There's no reason to suggest he'd come back here if he thought anyone was at all suspicious." He looked at Nobby. "Would he have had any idea Petra knew about him? Or that you left town because of him?"

"Either way, I'm not happy to wait. Are there any trackers around here at the moment? Anyone who could go into the desert and investigate at least the nearer pillars or the Pyramid? I was told... The pyramid isn't a safe place for us to be, so it would have to be at a distance. And if we get that far, we can carry on to the raven hills and warn them there."

[LCP]

Ludo & Adelbert

"If he can get to the Red Pyramid, it's a shorter journey to the Raven Hills than it is back here," Ludo said. "There's no reason to suggest he'd come back here if he thought anyone was at all suspicious." He looked at Nobby. "Would he have had any idea Petra knew about him? Or that you left town because of him?"

Nobby shrugged unhappily. "Petra came straight to me with the letter for you," he said. "I don't know if she thought he saw her. I didn't see him, though."

""Either way, I'm not happy to wait. Are there any trackers around here at the moment? Anyone who could go into the desert and investigate at least the nearer pillars or the Pyramid? I was told... The pyramid isn't a safe place for us to be, so it would have to be at a distance. And if we get that far, we can carry on to the raven hills and warn them there."

"Picking up a trail in the Waste can be a bit like trying to find footprints in the ocean," said Gill. "But as for trackers, as I recall young Samella Mugwort was a bit of a dab hand at stalking birds down by the lake. Think she joined your Captain's archers," he said, turning to Valdes.

"If she's with the Gamecocks, then she's here," said Valdes. He looked to Ludo. "How many people would you need?"

[Thragka]

Urgrim, 18th Brauzeit

Urgrim nodded and uh-huh'd as he collected his thoughts carefully. "You're right. There's very little – almost nothing I could say for sure we'd find in Zaraz Irkul. Only the priestess. What troubles me is ..." He sighed. It's, every time we've – the humans and I – faced Varag Kol, we've never been prepared. He's always outplayed us, had some trick. The umgi northerners were meant to be experts at fighting zangunaz, but their battle plan was – well, it got them all killed. We should never have gone into those ruins, but by the time we'd chased him there, we had no other options left. The princeling might be ready to send his army south, but I don't – I just don't know if he really knows what he's doing. He's never seen what Varag Kol can do for himself. How can I know he's not making the same mistake?"

He took a deep breath. "There's got to be something, some way to know how to get an advantage. Varag Kol was beaten before. You're right, Skorgrund should be the first place to start, I shouldn't've ... we should start with your clan records. But if those don't tell us ... by Stubbs' account, the history of the first war is engraved on the very walls of the ruins of Zaraz Irkul. And this priestess was there, could tell us herself what it was like the last time." He ran a hand through his hair. "That's what it is. It's not much. You've made me wonder, myself, if it's anything." He shrugged unhappily. "Standing with the princeling is sensible. I just don't ... I just don't know."

[LCP]

Urgrim

"If the manling prince marches south, he has to win," said Elmendrin gravely. "Clan Dwimmulson can't fight the Black Hound alone. Not if he has the bodies of Sforza's soldiers to swell his army."

She paused, thinking. "I'll bring this to the rest of the clan," she said. "It's a decision we should make as one. I can't see our people trusting the word of an uzkular, but maybe Skorgrund has something in the records that can tell us more about what to expect in Zaraz Irkul." She breathed a heavy sigh. "I wouldn't pin my hopes on it, though, Jotunnsson. In my experience, struggles like these aren't won by magic words or runic spears. They're won by whichever side has the strength to bear the cost - no matter how high."

"Speaking of runic spears, we should call this Sieghard here. If it really is the work of our ancestors, then I'm sure Skorgrund will want to see it," she said. "As will I."

[Thragka]

Urgrim

Urgrim nodded. "That's only right, Rinn." In truth he felt a palpable relief that the decision would neither be his, nor rely solely on what Elmendrin thought of him in this instant.

"Sieghard holds the Thornwood in the princeling's name, and commands troops in the south. Or at least, those that survived Nath," he continued. "If Sforza means to send his armies south, that's where Sieghard'll be. He's not likely to come here in defiance of Sforza's orders." He paused. "He's also not likely to come if he perceives you mean to claim the spear from him – however accurate that perception may be. I've told him I don't mean to let that happen," he finished awkwardly.

[LCP]

Urgrim

Elmendrin raised an eyebrow. "I see," she said. "Well, then I suppose we may come to him."

[RossN]

Ludo & Adelbert

Adelbert rubbed at his eyes. He looked tired and careworn. 'It seems whatever we do we stand a chance of missing the necromancer but at this point any scrap of information about the enemy is useful. Those ruins in the desert might give us some clues we are currently missing and under the circumstances they may be as good a guess as any.'

[LeSwordfish]

"So... a small group, including trackers and people who've worked in or crossed the desert before," Ludo said. "We're not trying to take him on, just find some evidence of where he went or what he might have been looking for. Right?"

[LCP]

Ludo & Adelbert

Valdes and the others looked around at one another. None of them seemed to have any better ideas.

"Sounds like a wild goose chase to me," harrumphed Odo. "Haring off into the Waste after wizards and warlocks. The important thing is to keep Sermena safe."

"And we will," said Valdes. "You have my word on that." He looked back to Ludo. "If you want to do this, I'll give you what you need - but I want our soldiers back alive. If you can't find him in four days, I want your word that you'll turn back."

[Thragka]

Urgrim, 19th Brauzeit

Urgrim would have welcomed rather more sleep, but nonetheless stirred himself to wakefulness as the Dwimmulhold began its day. A rest in a proper bed, and the prospect of a day in the city, had refreshed him somewhat. For the first time, the immediate aches of his wounds from Nath were not so ever-present. He found Skorgrund in what counted as a good mood, the old coot having been awake for hours already. He filled the elder in on the news from the south, as well as the details of Ludo's proposed expedition to Kheneb-Ptra-Urush; to Skorgrund, Urgrim presented that idea much more neutrally, without indicating his own anguish over the matter, but still highlighting the ancient city's historical relevance.

Leaving the gates of the hold well before noon, upon arrival in the low town he went straight to Tattie's rooms, patiently wielding Beatrix Hildebrand's name to get access to the keep. "What with it looking like Principe's sending his army south, the Magister'd like you to go with them, and start training with her again. She also wants you to bring her stuff – horse, books and clothes. She seemed pretty sure you could handle all that by yourself, but, eh, I could help you hire a cart, or something, if that'd be better?"

"How've you been, anyway? How're you finding the city?" He looked around for Philip and Yuda. "How're the goats?"

~

In the afternoon, Urgrim passed through the North Market. He stocked back up on rations, and bought a bottle of local spirits. His usquebaugh reserve had taken quite a dent as he and Tilmann had crossed the Bracken Mere. He treated himself to another hot lunch at the Duke when he stopped by on the off chance that the city guard had left a message.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Buying two weeks' rations and a bottle of spirits, assuming that's uncomplicated. I've also deducted the costs of food over the time since Urgrim left Manann's Keep.

Assuming there hasn't been any message for him, his next step for the afternoon is to head for the square near the east gate where Tomas lost control of the horse, and ask around to see if there's anyone there today who witnessed it. I'll try an untrained Gossip: Gossip 16 - (1d100)[90], Fortune - (1d100)[70]

[LeSwordfish]

Ludo nodded, grateful to have the decision taken out of his hands. "That should let us get to the nearer set of ruins and see if there's something he might be up to there. If he's gone to the Red Pyramid, I wouldn't want to go in there with any number of men."

[LCP]

Urgrim, 19th Brauzeit

Skorgrund seemed about as concerned by Urgrim’s news as Urgrim would have expected. “All dead, you say? Gazul’s gates, this is what happens when we let the umgi take charge.” He pulled his arthritic fingers through his beard. “You’ve told the Rinn, aye? I’ll speak to her at once. Good day to you, Jotunnsson.”

The venerable loremaster stumped off in search of Elmendrin.

Leaving the gates of the hold well before noon, upon arrival in the low town he went straight to Tattie's rooms, patiently wielding Beatrix Hildebrand's name to get access to the keep. "What with it looking like Principe's sending his army south, the Magister'd like you to go with them, and start training with her again. She also wants you to bring her stuff – horse, books and clothes. She seemed pretty sure you could handle all that by yourself, but, eh, I could help you hire a cart, or something, if that'd be better?"

"How've you been, anyway? How're you finding the city?" He looked around for Philip and Yuda. "How're the goats?"

Tattie seemed a little flustered by Urgrim’s sudden appearance. “Oh, they’re – they’re doing fine,” she said. “The Magister wants me… now? It’s just, I was making good progress with the lady Sforza’s horse, and, um, things.” She hesitated. “Are we supposed to go when the army goes?”

~

Down in the North Market, Urgrim couldn’t find many people who were willing to help him track the widow’s son – in fact, he could hardly find anyone who’d give him the time of day if he wasn’t putting money in their pocket. The grocers and the grain merchants were all putting up their prices, and unruly crowds of people gathered around each wagon and stall as they squabbled to buy up the last of the harvest. Even the street vendors were having to raise their prices to make ends meet – or else seek cheaper ingredients. You could say what you liked about humans, but you couldn’t say they weren’t enterprising - Urgrim saw a man with a tray selling what he was pretty sure were rats on wooden skewers.

“I’ll tell you what I told that ‘igh-and-mighty doctor feller,” said the fifth stall-holder Urgrim asked. “I’ve not seen no-one who wasn’t here to buy a pie, and if you don’t want one, I don’t want to see you either. Sixpence, genuine meats. Buy one or stop ‘oldin’ up the line.”

---

Ludo & Adelbert, 19th Brauzeit

“Then we’re agreed,” said Valdes. “I’ll make the arrangements for your supplies.” He paused. “You are a brave man, Stubbs. I’m glad we have you here.”

Odo huffed a little, but didn’t seem to find any sympathy elsewhere in the room.

“You’ll be setting off tomorrow then?” said Gill. “I’m afraid we’re full to the rafters here, what with the soldiers and all. You’ll have to find somewhere else to stay.” He gave Odo a sidelong glance; Adelbert was sure he saw a mischievous twinkle in the old halfling’s eye. “But I’m sure there’s space at the old family place, eh?”

“What?” said Odo, suddenly indignant. It took a beat or two more for him to read the room. “Oh. Well. Yes, I suppose there is.”

“If the señora needs quarters of her own, I will gladly vacate my room until tomorrow,” said Valdes, with a courtly bow towards Moltke. Surprised to be the sudden centre of attention, the young Stirlander’s face reddened with embarrassment. “I can join my men in their tents.”

Moltke mumbled something about that being very kind.

~

There was a Brotherhood man standing guard outside the door of the Stubbs house, in case Klammenberg returned. Odo gave him about as much acknowledgement as Irene gave her servants; Ludo could practically see the stormclouds hovering over his father’s head.

Petra was looking well, if a little confused by all the comings and goings in the town. When she saw Ludo, she leapt up to give him a hug – but just as Nobby had said, she seemed to have no memory of Klammenberg. Even Ludo’s trusty woodcut seemed to spark no recognition – she couldn’t remember seeing him, or sending her letter, or even when or why she had been warned to look out for him. The hole in her memory clearly troubled her.

“Don’t worry yourself, Petra,” said Odo sourly. “Your brother’s having another great adventure off into the desert. We can all get a good look at this Klammenberg character after he’s brought him back.”

---

Angestag, 20th Brauzeit

Ludo & Adelbert

The next morning, Valdes was as good as his word. He had rustled them up four mules to carry water and tents, and two guides. The first was young Sam Mugwort, clearly there under orders and looking far from keen about the whole endeavour. The second was Meradell Duckweed, an older halfling who had made the Raven Hills run for the family mine before the desert swallowed the road. Ludo didn’t know her very well, but his father had always spoken well of her nose for a deal.

Odo and Petra were among the crowd that had gathered to see them off. Ludo’s father still looked as if someone was forcing him to swallow a lemon, but held his silence. Much as he might like to, the proof that people in high places considered Ludo’s ‘adventure’ important was far too overwhelming to deny.

[LeSwordfish]

Leaving Adelbert and Rilke to lead the process of loading the mules, Ludo crossed back to his family, checking they were sufficiently isolated to have some sort of private conversation.

He cleared his throat, and turned to his father. "I'll probably be back in a week or so. I'm not going to get into a fight if I can avoid it so this shouldn't be goodbye but... I'm sorry. I was... We didn't part on good terms. And then I didn't try to find you the next time I was here. That was... that was rude of me."

"I've... I've nearly died several times since we last met. And I saw what happened to an isolated village like this when the Jackal went there. That could have been me, or that could have been you. So... I wanted to apologise, for my part in this... in what's between us."

[LCP]

Ludo & Adelbert

Odo's manner remained stiff. The elder Stubbs didn't really have the emotional vocabulary to respond to Ludo's sincere apology - but Ludo was sure he saw a flicker of something cross his father's face when he mentioned that he'd nearly died.

"You don't have to be doing this," he said. "Any of it. Chasing off into the desert after wanted men, hunting... shadows out of old stories. It's not what Stubbses do." His tone was as indignant as usual, but there was a crack in it that Ludo hadn't heard before. "Look around you, Ludo! The Prince has got hundreds of soldiers. He's got ogres, he's got a bloody wizard to do this kind of thing for him. I've only got one son."

[LeSwordfish]

"I... They're all someone's son too," Ludo said, a catch in his own voice too. "I'm in charge! I didn't want to be, I didn't know I was going to be, we just tried to make some money and... and now I'm the best person to be dealing with this. So many of my friends... but i'm the best person to protect them."