8: A Club for Fighting

In order to get to Vielfras’ room, we organised a distraction in the bar of the Bridge House. Solvej became disruptive, insulting one of the locals’ mother and Gulgad attempted to apprehend her on behalf of the watch. Some of the locals even joined in. While that was going on, Erhardt managed to sneak up the stairs, unlock the door, and get into Vielfras’ room. While he was up there, Kurtis spoke to the landlord and managed to arrange to play there in three nights time.

Vielfras’ room was quite the trove of surprising items. Erhardt found a pile of letters written to Vielfras from various ladies of Altdorf. The authors were society nobles like Ava von Kattenwald, Brunhilde von Hapsburg, and Grafina Alina von Midwald. Some letters were simply initialled, A, U, UF and M. The content of these missives was bordering on the salacious and what the more prurient among us (like Kurtis) might term ‘love letters’. And some seemed to be responses to Vielfras’ requests for money. It seemed like he may have been blackmailing a string of Altdorf society gels.

Erhardt also found some civilian clothes in the wardrobe and some lengths of blood-spattered bandages. When we got together again, Gulgad recognised the bandages as typical of the things pit fighters often wrap around their fists.

Although we hadn’t solved the murder, Kurtis decided this information was important enough to tell Nacht about immediately. I didn’t think it was, and I suspect Kurtis didn’t either, he just wanted an excuse to see Nacht again. Solvej agreed to go with Kurtis to Black Rock if he went with her to see Heske later that evening for the dubious soiree they had arranged. Perhaps Solvej was sincere in her apprehension about that. Perhaps she should have thought about that before agreeing to meet strange people at midnight.

I thought we might need to look for Christoph Engel, the Grey Wizard who Vielfras had been seen arguing with, but we couldn’t find anyone who knew him. While looking around, Gulgad, Erhardt, and I bumped into Orban Gedrecht and a bunch of Altdorfer soldiers. He told us how much he missed Vielfras, and as he knew we were charged with finding his murderer, he told us he and his men would give us any help we required. To be honest the man seemed to be a bit of a wet blanket. We told him he could rely on us, and so he invited us all out for drinks. Gulgad and Erhardt were happy to go, but I don’t like Altdorfers and I don’t like soldiers, apart from that, I’m sure they were decent blokes. So, Instead I went to the Raven to see if Solvej or Kurtis would turn up, later.

Nacht was grateful for the information that Kurtis and Solvej brought her but still anxious we should solve the crime. Kurtis began to form the idea that Nacht might need some sort of entertainment and that he might become her personal musician, and he could do spying for her in his spare time. What a dreamer.

Gulgad and Erhardt went with Orban and his men for some drinks and went on to an abandoned warehouse where there was some sort of makeshift fighting ring. Orban explained that the room was modelled on the historical lodges of Unberogen warrior fraternities. The Unberogens, if you’re not familiar with the Reikland, was the tribe that was said to have inhabited this part of the Reik basin since before the time of Sigmar. Personally, I find this harking back to the past all a bit tedious. No one needs to know what their ancestors were doing thousands of years ago, and who they were fighting. We are all imperial subjects now, like it or not, and anyone invoking the name of an ancient tribe is usually doing it to start a fight or to bully a foreigner. It did not surprise me that these meat headed Altdorfer soldiers were into that sort of thing, however.

Orban explained that this was the meeting place for their fraternity, and they celebrate their vitality by fighting each other. It was a sort of club, for fighting, or, if you will, a ‘fight club.’ They hoped that Erhardt and Gulgad might join.

After their meeting with Nacht, Solvej and Kurtis went to see Heske. She welcomed them and brought them to an abandoned warehouse, which was already quite busy, full of Altdorfer soldiers celebrating their Unberogen ancestry by beating the crap out of each other.

Solvej and Kurtis joined Gulgad and Erhardt watching the fights. After each bout Orban would say a few words and there did seem to be a ritual feel to the proceedings. Orban began to lead the crowd in strange prayers which seemed to evoke baser elements than mere Unberogen ancestry and kept mentioning the unmarred flesh and ‘Shornaal’ whatever that was. The atmosphere was heavy and hypnotic, and although everyone else managed to keep their cool, Solvej seemed to lose a bit more of her grounding and calm at the mention of the word.

Orban suggested Erhardt and Gulgad retire to a room away from the fighting which Vielfras used to use. He became upset again at the reminder of his lost friend. He didn’t enter the room but encouraged Gulgad and Erhardt to as he wanted Gulgad to be the new champion of the club. It was a makeshift chamber with strange décor, and there was some sort of statuette in the middle of the room, but it was covered by a cloth. Erhardt decided to uncover the statue. The sight was extremely unnerving, and I will not try to describe it here, but Erhardt ended up retching in disgust at the strange, pink, flesh-like figurine.