36: Time to Kill

After getting back to Nuln we were notified we had to meet with the gravin the next day. I imagined she had another job for us to do, or perhaps she was going to reveal the plot of land she had in mind for the orphanage. So, we were left to our own devices for the day.

I went to the temple to arrange Otto’s initiation into the cult. I was very pleased that he had sort of agreed to join the cult and it turned out they were ready to accept him. They requested a 3 gold crown donation and as luck would have it, I had exactly 3 gold crowns to my name. This would leave me impoverished, but it was worth it, and I imagined the look of joy on Otto’s face when I broke the news to him that he would become a monk of Shallya.

At the temple they also gave me a printed pamphlet that served as a sort of introduction to Shallya, with some tenets and prayers on and a few songs. I certainly looked forward to using that to inform Otto a bit more about the cult as even though it is quite clear that he has the spirit of Shallya within him, I think most of it has been got more through instinct than education.

Erhardt was walking around with his new black book, and I think he had a new staff or something. He kept swinging it around ostentatiously, but then mysteriously refusing to talk about it. Luckily, I don’t care.

Kurtis was talking about getting a tattoo of the word trollslayer, which was obviously in bad taste, and I think Gulgad was prepared to tell him exactly the wrong runes to have, but in the end, he chickened out. But Gulgad did get some tattoos of troll and minotaur runes. I think he is keeping count of his kills.

Otto also had a new staff, although I don’t think it was magical. Apparently, the thing to have in the rat catching community is a long pole with lots of rats nailed to it, as a sort of advertisement of your rat catching prowess. But it looked like Otto had just bought a mop and took the head off it. And that was his rat catching pole, but with no rats. It was hard to tell whether he was advertising himself as an incompetent rat catcher or an idiot street cleaner.

Otto also went off to the artisan district to sell his medal. When I had them evaluated in Ubersreik I was told they were worth 9 crowns just for their weight in gold, without even taking into account the bravery and dedication it would have taken to win one. So I expected Otto to come back with at least 10 crowns for it. As it happened, everyone assumed he had stolen the thing and was wary of buying it. But in the end, he turned up with 2GC 8/-, which was quite a sum, as I understand the first offer he got was 3GC 2/-. Only Otto could manage to pull off a deal like that.

I think Solvej wanted to spend more time learning to read, but fortunately I wasn’t around to help her, and so Erhardt read to her instead. I’m not a prudish man by any means, but I do think it is important to keep an air of propriety, and to be frank some of the words and phrases, and indeed the plot, of the Fishrook Dalliance are not always suitable for all audiences. But Erhardt doesn’t share these views and was keen to make his reading as egregiously explicit as possible, with added sound effects, and I think Solvej was shocked by some of the content. So, in retrospect, I think she might want to thank me for keeping things a little bit cleaner.

After a bit of encouragement from me, Kurtis agreed to visit Gen in prison. I don’t know what happened exactly over this issue, but I am leaving some of the page blank, here, so If I ever find out I can write it below.

Kurtis found the same guard who he had paid a few silver coins earlier to ensure her stay there was less unpleasant than it might be, for a week, two months ago. And was shocked to be taken down to one of the deepest parts of the prison where a thin and desperate Gen had been dumped and shorn of her hair.  The jailer explained that the money had run out and he needed to use the better cell for a paying guest.

Kurtis apologised to Gen for being a bit late and promised he would get her out of there soon. He then used his status and the gravin’s name to get her moved to a better cell, and told the jailer that if he didn’t make things more pleasant for her, he would use his influence to get him killed. The guard asked for money for this, but Kurtis insisted he just do his job. The jailer then had the idea that he would be able to pull some strings to free Gen for a small fee. He said he could do the job for 5 crowns. So Kurtis arranged to meet the jailer round the back of the Black Cat Tavern that evening to discuss things, and promised Gen she would be free soon, so she kissed him goodbye and told him she loved him.

Kurtis didn’t tell any of us what he was up to, and went to the Black Cat Tavern as arranged, but kept himself in the shadows and waited for the jailer to turn up. When he did, Kurtis lectured him on not taking the piss, saying he had insulted the gravin and all her house and insulted him and all his house and had left him no choice but to make him pay for it, and he plunged his dagger into the man’s stomach.

The shocked jailer begged Kurtis not to finish him off, telling him that if he died Genevieve would rot in jail, and he promised he would get her out for free, but Kurtis told him it was too late and stabbed him again, leaving him dead in a pool of blood. Then he went to another tavern and got drunk.

Anyway, the next day we woke early ready to go and see what the gravin wanted from us. I told Otto about his new role in the cult of Shallya, and I may have been mistaken, but I don’t think he was as excited by the prospect as I had imagined he would be. I think that was probably nerves, though. Someone like Otto who is used to being a rat catcher, and comes from a long line of rat catchers, is naturally going to be a bit apprehensive before starting a new chapter in his life, but I’m sure he will get used to the idea. Anyway, Otto quickly went off to talk to Gulgad about joining the cult. Not sure why he would do that, to be honest. In any case the breakfast conversation devolved into a discussion about Otto becoming a grey wizard and a trollslayer, which was unnecessary, and a bit immature of everyone.

I would have expected Kurtis to join in just to be a dick, but he kept quiet and looked a bit ill. I think he was even sick on our way up to the palace to see the gravin. The gravin was very polite and told us we were so good at supporting her that she needed another favour from us. This, of course, meant we were being ordered to do this. It wasn’t the sort of favour you could just refuse. She was off to another party. The life of a noble seemed to be an endless round of travelling to various parties dotted across the Reikland. Still, free food and board on a boat followed by a party was not a bad prospect.

Until she told us that the party would be held in Ubersreik and asked us whether we had ever been there. We all avoided answering and stood around uncomfortably. The last thing we needed to do was return to Ubersreik. I tried to get Kurtis’ attention to signal that he needed to put the gravin off, but he was oblivious to this. The gravin explained that the recent troubles in Ubersreik meant that control of the city might be gifted to one of the local nobles. The von Holzenauers would be hosting the ball, but she would be going to support the von Saponatheim family’s claim.

Solvej asked whether the von Bruners would be going, which was an interesting question for a Nordlander hunter who had never been to Ubersreik to ask, but the gravin simply replied that she thought they probably would. I knew we couldn’t show our faces in Ubersreik again, but luckily, I suppose, it was going to be a masked ball.

The gravin became animated about the costumes we would wear and told us to choose a costume to reflect our wildest fancies and gave us a day to sort them out before we had to board the Emperor Wilhelm again and set off for Ubersreik. Solvej asked if the gravin would help make sure her costume was appropriate, and she agreed and told Kurtis to make sure the rest of us had decent costumes.

Solvej rushed off to the Saucy Dwarf again, with Erhardt, and met Gerte there, the lady who had sold her all the makeup that she wasn’t very good at putting on. Solvej got some more makeup and some advice on making a lavish dress, ‘get a normal dress and get rid of half of it.’ She then demonstrated various techniques to enhance her decolletage.

And so Solvej and Erhardt went off to the shops to find a suitable dress. Telling the assistant in one of the shops she was going to party with the gravin, the assistant asked if she wanted to dress like the countess and suggested a revealing mini dress, so Solvej decided she didn’t want to dress quite that much like the countess. I think in the end she decided on ankles and not knees, and she bought a matching mask. Erhardt bought a square of green velvet, for some reason.

I didn’t have two pennies to rub together so had little option but to ask Otto to make me a costume, but when I saw that he had already made a lion mask for himself out of two dead rats, I changed my mind.

We all went to the inn to discuss our costumes and Kurtis bought the drinks. I would like to make it clear that I didn’t try to steal anything and this whole incident was a genuine misunderstanding. When I was talking to Kurtis, he paid for our beers by pushing a few silver shillings across the bar. Quite innocently, I inadvertently put my hand over one of the coins by accident. So when Kurtis saw me, it looked like I had been trying to steal the coin. But I hadn’t. I don’t have any money but, as a monk of Shallya whose room and board is at the grace of the gravin, I don’t actually need any, so there would have been no point me stealing it anyway, if I had been doing that, which I wasn’t. In any case, Kurtis magnanimously tossed me a shilling, like he’s the big man.

Kurtis, who seemed to think he was our leader, now, decided Gulgad would go to the ball as a trollslayer, and that no one would recognise him as although he was moderately famous in Ubersreik, he wasn’t a slayer back then. And he went off to buy costumes for Otto, me, and himself.

We all boarded the Emperor Wilhelm and were greeted by Stefan. He couldn’t disguise his contempt that we were still in the gravin’s trusted inner circle, and he wasn’t. He told us he would be going to the ball, but he had a great disguise, and we should try to work out who he was. I had the idea to find his room, and steal his costume, but given my previous attempt at stealing Kurtis’ shilling, if it had been an attempt at stealing, which it wasn’t, I soon abandoned that idea. I wasn’t really cut out for a life of crime, even if it was in a good cause.

Back on the boat it felt a bit like home, to be honest. We all had our old rooms, and I was looking forward to the journey, again, a few weeks on the river with nothing much to do. However, heading back to Ubersreik, I wasn’t looking forward to. That was our real home, but I don’t think any of us really wanted to go back there.

Solvej couldn’t wait to show the gravin her costume for the ball, and the gravin was quite polite about it but told her it needed some work. Solvej was happy enough to get the advice because the gravin was famously fashionable. The gravin suggested that Solvej should get washed and shaved and plucked which had nothing to do with the actual costume. Also, she suggested Solvej should avoid sunlight and hard work so that her skin could be more pale and her hands more soft.

Kurtis was next in with his bag of costumes. He had a very good one for himself, which was a brave knight with a leopard skin cloak, and a good one for Otto which was a bear but it looked like it could be made into a big rat with a bit of work. And then a rubbish smelly costume for me which was a fish made from real fish skin. The gravin said they were all very appropriate as Kurtis was a brave knight, and Otto was a rat catcher, and Lukas was a bit of a cold fish. Yes, well done, Kurtis. Very funny. You’re so clever.

I went to Solvej’s room a bit later as I had an idea for her. I was interrupting her as she had a couple of the gravin’s handmaids around her plucking her ankles. I am not sure what sort of beauty treatment that is, but it seemed odd to me. It’s not like I have ever seen a woman’s ankle before and thought it needed less hair, although to be fair, it’s not like I have ever seen a woman’s ankle before.

I had read in my book of recipes that it is possible to create a potion that makes people look more attractive and I thought I would offer to make one for Solvej. I may not have phrased the offer very carefully as she did seem quite offended at my suggestion, but in the end she agreed to try it.

Later that evening, while we were taking the air on deck we heard someone shout ahoy from alongside. It was our old friends Hilda and Hildon. Hildon explained that they had had a bit of bad luck and were without any food and could we spare them some. He explained that they had given a lift to a short fellow who had stolen all their stuff. He had been talking about gemstones and cursed swords. Otto was immediately on alert and we decided that they must be talking about Glimbrin.

Hildon and Hilda had helped us out in the past when we needed it, so we were only too glad to return the favour. I showed Hildon down to the kitchen to get some food and then Kurtis burst in and told me he had cleared it with the gravin and that they were allowed to have lots of food. I explained I was already getting it, but he implied that I was just following the orders that he was giving, and then he took all the credit for being so generous, so I just flounced off coz there’s no point even trying to talk to Kurtis when he’s being a dick.

I think when Kurtis was asking the gravin if Hildon could be given food she mentioned how good a judge of character Kurtis was, except for Genevieve. This prompted Kurtis to ask about her trial. The gravin seemed to think that justice had been done and the case was closed, but Kurtis told her he thought that she was still awaiting trial. Anyway, I don’t think the gravin wanted to be drawn on the subject.

Meanwhile Otto was on guard on deck making very sure that no one could get from Hildon’s boat to ours. And even after they had left he made a sweep of the boat to make sure no one had stowed away. Still, he managed to convince himself that Glimbrin was on board and there just to steal from him. Despite Otto being anxious about Glimbrin, I managed to cheer him up before bedtime with a fable and a song from the Shallyan pamphlet. I think that made him feel a lot better.