2: In the Watch

After not very much sleep in the Sigmar-awful dungeon we were abruptly woken and fed some scraps that none of us, except Solvej, probably, could bear to eat. Then we were ushered into the courtroom. For some reason, none of the entertainers were on trial, none of the thugs (except Gulgad), or the soldiers or anyone else who had instigated the disturbance, just the five of us, and apart from Gulgad, who I wouldn’t be surprised if he’d started it all, we were all innocent.

And then they read the charges, which included the murder by crossbow of one of the rioters. As none of us had a crossbow or had even been near a crossbow in our lives, it wasn’t clear how they could make such an accusation stick. But common sense, or evidence, didn’t seem to be valued in this courtroom. As I always knew, it was one rule for the rich and powerful, and another for the poor and weak.

I had begun to pray to Shallya to save me from the impending death penalty, or at least make it quick, when the proceedings were interrupted by a lawyer insisting she was representing us, and much to the chagrin of the judge, she demanded a recess. This was surprising as it didn’t look like any of us had the contacts or the cash to get us a lawyer.

So, it turned out that, while I thought he was just breaking noses, Gulgad had managed to rescue some little girl from the middle of the brawl, and had been noticed. He’s a show-off, in any case, so it doesn’t surprise me he made sure that he was noticed. But perhaps Shallya intended that, because the girl was Jocelin Karstadt and her parents were genuine Karstadts, a local noble family. They were of course relieved that no harm had come to their daughter, and were anxious to give Gulgad, and so the rest of us, the best legal help they could. So being associated with a violent thug turned out not to be as bad as all that.

The lawyer was Osanna Winandus, who was very sure of herself and keen to tell us how much she liked sticking it to the powers that be. She was as good as she thought she was, though, and to cut a long story short, she managed to get our sentence reduced to three years in the watch. I was so relieved to have avoided the death penalty that the three years watch service seemed like nothing, until I’d thought about it.

Three years in the watch! Doing the bidding of our betters, bullying the populace into obeisance, imposing petty rules and regulations to the letter, being despised by those who ordered us around, and equally despised by those we ordered around. A man of my sensibilities and education (to be fair, I didn’t have much education) condemned to three years of this! Shallya certainly did move in mysterious ways. I could not see what sort of plan she had for me, and how on earth I was ever to build my orphanage on the meagre pay of a watchman.

The justice system in Ubersreik, and across the Old World, as far as I know, is heavily involved with the cult of Verena. This cult sees itself as an ally of the cult of Shallya and in many interpretations Verena herself is represented as the mother of Shallya. But it seems to me, many of that cult have got carried away with their power. So complacent are they of their own interpretations of right and wrong, many of them seem more interested in following their own cult regulations, than in administering justice for the rest of us. How could such a mother produce such a daughter?

Who do they even see as their actual masters, the letter of the law or the people? I’m certainly not going to go as far as some radical organisations who ask can we ever truly have justice while a whole stratum of society is legally raised above the common populace, but you have to wonder whether we can ever truly have justice while a whole stratum of society is legally raised above the common populace.

On the other hand, Osanna herself was a keen Verenan, she revealed with the intricate owl motifs stitched into her clothing, and her heart was in the right place. Perhaps, the individual is not always indicative of the organisation. Perhaps even the cult of Shallya looks to some as a money-grubbing outfit only in it for itself, and its followers only interested in sticking to the rules while they rise in rank within it. No, that couldn’t be.

We were marched down to the watch barracks and given old blue and gold rags to tie round our arms as our uniform. They were certainly sparing no expense on our equipment. Then we filed in to meet Captain Pfeffer who would be in charge of us for the next three years. To my surprise she seemed like a reasonable sort, as she explained our duties. Solvej tried to make friends with her, but she wasn’t that reasonable. I could see that Kurtis was attracted to the captain, and for the duration of the briefing I prayed to Shallya, probably an abuse of my position, to be fair, that he wouldn’t ask her out.

Pfeffer eventually handed us over to the care of Sergeant Klumpenklug who she said would look after us. I like to think of myself as a good judge of character and Rudi Klumpenklug seemed like the salt of the earth career watchman that makes the heart of any city beat. The sort of fellow who knows just when to let things go, when to turn a blind eye, and when to use common sense, and the sort of fellow who knows when a heavy hand is required, when the full force of the law needs to be applied. The sort of fellow who would treat his officers right if they treated him right in return. After his briefing I was left with the impression that we were in good hands and the next three years might not drag as much as I’d feared.

We arranged to meet Rudi at the Raspy Raven, the local watchmen’s local, at dusk to start our first night’s work. I decided that three hours work in the mornings and three at night would give me enough time to help out at the temple, too. However, when I arrived at the temple that day, I was met by Father Gunther who informed me that because of my disgraceful behaviour and my employment in the watch, my services at the temple would no longer be required.

So turning up for duty, no longer a monk of Shallya but just a criminal sentenced to serve in the watch I wasn’t in the mood to talk to my new ‘friends’. Solvej is the sort of person who would chat to anyone and she was soon nattering away to Rudi, and he was giving her some tricks of the trade. I got the impression that Gulgad wanted a very violent crime to occur as soon as possible. I was beginning to wonder whether Erhardt was a Wizard at all or just one of those people who goes around telling everyone they’re a Wizard that you hear about. He had certainly not performed any convincing magical feats during the riot, nor was he able to conjure anything up to help us escape the jail. Kurtis was off in a world of his own, as usual.

It wasn’t long before we came across a pickpocket trying to make his escape. He was running across the quayside with locals shouting after him. This all happened a bit quickly, and I certainly wasn’t ready for my first bit of watching. To be fair, the only preparation they had done for us was tying a rag around our arms and telling us to walk along the riverfront. Kurtis tried to grab the thief and Solvej decided to use her sling. Unfortunately, but strangely predictably, the sling shot hit Kurtis in the back of the head, and the pickpocket was free.

As he ran past me, before I could have a proper theological debate with myself about the whole thing, I found myself grabbing him and holding on tight until my colleagues came to my aid. My first arrest, and not really sure what to make of it. The poor pickpocket was obviously in need, for who would risk the wrath of the law so readily if they were not desperate to feed their starving family. We found the incriminating purse on him, full of silver. I imagined this might be used as evidence, but Rudi quickly grabbed it from us and put the money away, giving one shilling to Solvej. This didn’t seem right, but at least we had a shilling.

The next few hours of largely boring patrol along the waterfront, was interspersed with Rudi chatting privately with the odd citizen, sometimes disappearing for a few moments and returning a bit furtively, fondling his purse.

Then suddenly the waterfront was filled with the smell of smoke, and we could see orange flames above the rooves of nearby buildings. We rushed to help, as if it were our duty. Rudi kept a steady pace, however. A building was already fiercely ablaze, and we could see figures within it crying for help.

Without hesitation Gulgad charged into the conflagration and made his way through the smoke and up the stairs. Say what you like about show-off violent dwarfs, but they do spring into action when required. Then Solvej followed him. The hunter might not be able to find Altdorf from Salzenmund, or find an inn in Marktplatz, or her arse from her elbow, but she found the courage to enter a blazing building.

I think Kurtis tried to follow her, but he just wasn’t brave enough. Personally, I would have gone in too, but the fire was hot, and Shallyan robes can be especially combustible because of all the ointment we use. Instead, we were able to get a bucket chain going among the onlookers to collect water from the river, and Erhardt, who must have also had combustible robes, managed to get an old hay cart dragged to the side of the building. In the midst of the chaos Rudi managed to grab a couple of beers from the nearby inn and shared a drink with Erhardt.

We watched the fire consume the building wondering what had happened to our brave comrades, then suddenly Gulgad emerged on the second storey of the building carrying a figure, and jumped. He flew through the air in a ball of fire and landed on the hay cart where we managed to douse the flames. And Solvej soon followed saving another citizen. What heroes!

One of the survivors thanked us profusely and introduced himself as Narbe Ditwin, the owner of the burning premises. He told us he would do anything to help us if we ever needed him. Gulgad was very keen to make sure everyone knew it was him who had led the rescue operation. So we spread the word among the crowd that it was all about Gulgad the pit fighter. He seemed to think that this would add to his pit fighting reputation and draw the crowds to his next fight. But it seemed to me, the Dwarf was just a show-off.

All in all, it was a satisfying first day at work, and helping save the people from the fire went some way to make up for getting chucked out of the cult. In any case I did pray to Shallya to help heal Gulgad’s and Narbe’s burns, and it seemed to help, so I don’t think she has thrown me out of her cult, despite what Father Gunther thinks.