38: Kemperbad Again Again

Hello mum. How are you and the girls? Remember we were in the Devil’s Bowl and we had to fight the rat thing? Well, now we have to leave the Barren Hills. I’m not really sure whether we achieved anything by coming up here (we put the unquiet dead to rest – Willow), except we did find another key, and that could be significant because we knew we needed another key for that strange star room in the signal tower. And so now we’re going to head back there.

Guido was still keen to follow Herzen as quickly as we could, but it seemed to me that if the horse we found in the river was one of theirs, then we were at least eight days behind them, now. And as we had started five days behind them, it was very clear that travelling by boat was a lot slower than travelling by horse. I decided that no matter how we hurried, we would never catch them up. But Guido said that was no reason to slow down, but I think it was.

We had to make the first day on foot, in any case, before we got back to our canoes, and so checked out both sides of the river as we went to make sure they had not left the valley. We were pretty sure they followed the river all that way.

Willow talked to Corrobreth about sending Skyroarer the Raven up to see if it could find the horses and talk to them, but he said that the Raven didn’t speak horse. She asked him whether he was able to sense animals and he said he could sense them when they were close by, but we can all do that, mum, can’t we.

All this rushing about was a bit stressful and I did wonder whether Willow had any more of that crimson shade left, to take the edge of things, but she said she didn’t (I didn’t – Willow). But Blume told me that she had some but she was holding out on me. But Willow emptied out all her pockets to prove it (See – Willow).

We made it back to the canoes before nightfall. We talked about the nature of the rat monster and Willow thought that it was perhaps the result of the union (I think I know what she means) between a human and a rat, but I didn’t really want to think about that, but it could be true, mum. I hope not. I really dislike them, anyway.

Corrobreth made another one of his magic food trees, and I asked him if they had any Estalian Blood Oaks in Unterbaum, and he said they might do, so that was something to look forward to. But then he had a chat with Willow about me. They were saying something about my addictive personality and how I joined the River Wardens straight after spending only an hour in one of those famous Mootland pedalos (they are swan shaped – Willow). And how I wasn’t capable of holding down a job for long periods. That’s not entirely fair. I spent two years in the river wardens which is almost half a full term.

Even though we were on our way out of the Barren Hills, I don’t think anyone had a decent sleep. I think everyone couldn’t wait to be out of the hills altogether. Canoeing downstream, especially somewhere like the Narn, is much easier than canoeing upstream and I didn’t even mind that Blume wasn’t paddling. We made it back to Unterbaum in a couple of days and time seemed to fly by.

We were very glad that Das Moot was still there, and surprised that the Unterbaumers had swabbed the deck and polished the fittings, and the boat was looking better than we had ever seen her. And they had tidied up and washed our clothes. Guido still urged us on and so we only had an hour or so in Unterbaum for Dreamy to get some supplies up together.

Guido I think felt bad about losing their canoe and so he went to find Vorster, the village elder, and paid him two crowns (two crowns mind! – Willow) as recompense. And that was about all the money he had. He asked Vorster whether there had been any sign of Herzen and her gang since we had been gone and he said there hadn’t. Guido thanked Vorster and Corrobreth for their help and said that if every village in the Reikland was like theirs then the world would be a better place.

Willow and I went for a forage to look for an Estalian Blood Oak but we couldn’t find one. To be honest I don’t think Willow was being that helpful about it (it was just unlucky – Willow). But she managed to stock up on tarrabeth and garlic.

We were soon sailing down the Stir, and it felt good to be leaving the hills. Dreamy, I think, felt uneasy about something, though, like someone was watching us as we sailed away.

Encouraged by Guido I was quite assertive when I organised the sailing roster. Except Blume refused to man the mizzen because she thought I was calling her miserable. I wasn’t, but she is. Sailing down the Stir was much quicker and easier than sailing up it, too, and we made good time. Again, time flew by and we reached Kemperbad in just three days. Although we had no hope of matching the horses’ pace going upriver, I feel like we may have caught up with them a bit during the downriver part.

When we got to Kemperbad, I thought that we might save some more time by not bothering with the great screw and shooting the rapids instead. This would save a few hours and two crowns, and there was only a small risk of Das Moot being dashed on the rocks and everyone drowning (I noticed an increased incidence in your risky behaviour – Willow). No one agreed so we had to wait in line for the screw.

Everyone had something they wanted to do ashore, except Blume, so I made her captain, but told her not to touch anything. On reflection, I think I should have just left the boat without saying anything, and I think being called captain (even though she wasn’t really a captain) got to Blume’s head a bit and she decided she could now sail Das Moot.

Dreamy went up to see the guard on the gate who had noticed Herzen last time we were here, but he said there had been no sign of her this time. And Guido went to the see sister Dammerung at the temple of Shallya, who had kept an eye on Herzen’s lot previously, but they hadn’t seen them either. The sister did suggest that they might now know they were being followed, but Guido said that they had been so far ahead of us, they probably wouldn’t.

I went to the docks to see if I could buy some crimson shade, and Willow went to visit the harbourmaster. She was having a nice chat with him when they noticed a stray boat crash around inside the great screw completely out of control, and then drift into the middle of the Reik. The harbourmaster said it was the worst bit of sailing he had ever seen, and Willow thought it was quite funny, until the boat turned in the current and she could see the nameplate on the side, that she had painted.

Blume had spent her time moving all my things out of the captain’s cabin and moving all her things in. And while we were gone, Das Moot reached the front of the queue for the screw a lot sooner than I had anticipated. Then being the captain, Blume decided that she was qualified to sail the boat into it, so she weighed anchor.

Of course, she didn’t know what she was doing, and Das Moot drifted into the mechanism, hit the side of the screw and then kept hitting it all the way down, and then turned backwards as it entered the Reik and settled in the middle of the Reik, with a severely damaged rudder, a danger to shipping.

I was on the quay, at the time, and watched in disbelief. I had to pay someone to row me over to Das Moot. I told Blume off but I don’t think she even realised she’d done anything wrong, and then I told her she had to move all her things out of the captain’s cupboard and put them back on Renate’s hammock.

Then I had to manoeuvre the boat back to the quayside which was very difficult without a rudder, and I admit I did sail into another boat, and got our rigging tangled. But luckily  there were enough people aboard that boat to disentangle us. And to be fair, they were quite nice about it. Then I had to organise some expensive and urgent repairs. Perhaps if they’d just let me shoot the rapids it would have been better, after all (but perhaps not – Willow).

Then when everyone got back to the boat Guido told me off for making Blume captain. But I told him he had told me I had to delegate more. But he said he didn’t mean Blume, which, on reflection, was probably fair. But then Blume went off to get some crimson shade for me as an apology for breaking the rudder, which was kind of nice of her.

Then a familiar looking messenger boy turned up with a letter with a purple seal. It was addressed to Kastelle Lieberung, who, remember mum, looked just like Blume and is sort of the reason we are doing all this stuff in the first place. Willow opened it and read it out to us. It said:

My Dear Friend,

Things cannot be allowed to continue in the vein. The Inner Circle has too  many other fish to fry to suffer such upset over an absconding Magister Impedimentae. This is your final warning. Have the 20,000 Gold Crowns in Altdorf within the week unless you prefer to take it to Middenheim personally. Do not attempt to abscond or we will see to it that you live just long enough to beg for the sweet release of death.

We will be in touch…

That didn’t seem like a very nice letter and as much as Blume is a pain in Das Moot, I don’t think any of us wanted her to have to beg for the sweet release of death.

I don’t think Blume really knew how to find crimson shade on the dockside of Kemperbad and I think she antagonised a lot of the locals. But she did come across a pauper, who she mistook for a drug dealer, who couldn’t even afford shoes. And, surprisingly, Blume decided to buy him some shoes and gave him some money for bread. Perhaps she was feeling guilty for nearly destroying Das Moot.

Then she saw some shady looking characters hanging around in a dark alley. But I don’t think she noticed that some of them were wearing purple, and she went up to them to see if they had drugs. They grabbed her, and one of them, who was hooded, started chanting at her. And when the chant was finished, they just left. But when they had gone, and Blume took off her gloves, she realised the chant had coloured her hands purple. And this was proper magic purple and not just the purple dye she had had before.

Blume went up to the temple of Shallya to see if they could cure her of her purple hand affliction, but they didn’t take her very seriously and told her to just wash it off. They had a ward full of people dying from the most terrible diseases, and so you can’t really blame them.

So after reading the letter, and seeing Blume’s hands, Guido called another meeting to tell us that he was concerned for Blume’s soul and that we had to pursue the nefarious as closely as possible. As the rudder repairs would be finished before nightfall, he said that we should leave town at first light and make our way to Dagmar’s observatory. And he said that we should spend the evening trying to get to the bottom of the incident with the purple cultists.

So we went off to the alleyway where Blume had been ambushed but there wasn’t much to see (I saw a dandelion – Willow). But there was a tavern nearby where the locals might have seen something. I went off to get some crimson shade, but everyone else went into the tavern. It was called the Dove and the Raven which was clearly a reference to Shallya and Morr, the gods of health and death, so a clever theological juxtaposition by whoever named the inn. It was surprising therefore to discover that the place was dedicated to Manann. This was even more surprising because we were hundreds of miles from the sea. But as the landlord said, it is good to pay your respects to Manann before you reach the sea, because then it will be too late, and I suppose he had a point. Also, of course, since Marienburg’s secession, the Imperial first fleet is confined to the Reik basin, because they do not have access to the Sea of Claws. So that made sense too.

But even so it was a grotty and unpleasant tavern. There was a shrine to Manann in one corner, and Guido made a show of going straight to that and saying a prayer. And at the questioning glare of the locals, he explained that he had spent many years on boats (which is the first I’ve heard of it) and he had learned it was best to pay one’s respects to Manann.

I think everyone thought the inn felt a bit random (it was the strangest inn we have been in since the Halfling theme pub – Willow). Nevertheless, Willow managed to make friends with one of the locals but he hadn’t seen the gang that attacked Blume, so that wasn’t much help.

Meanwhile, I was out on the quayside looking for some crimson shade. They say it is addictive, and sometimes all it takes to get you addicted is a single smoke. But I didn’t feel like I was addicted at all, I just really fancied having another go at it. Blume had told me that the street slang for crimson shade is shady lady so I went around the docks asking for a shady lady, and I’m not sure that gave the right impression.

Eventually I found a gang that thanks to my experience in the Mootland river wardens I decided looked like they might be selling drugs. I asked them if they had any shady lady, and they asked me if I was a copper. And I had to admit that I was, which confused them a bit. And then I explained I didn’t want any drugs, just some crimson shade. Unfortunately, they only had weirdroot and Ranald’s delight. You should make it clear to the girls right now, mum, that Ranald’s delight is really bad for you, so they should never, ever try it.

So, we didn’t have any success at all on the docks of Kemperbad, but luckily, when we got back to Das Moot, the rudder had been mended and we still had a couple of hours of daylight left, and so we decided to begin our journey early.

Again, this part of the journey seemed to fly by. Admittedly it is quicker to sail downstream with the current, but also I think when you are visiting a place for the first time it is good to spend some time exploring it and really getting to know it. But when you have been there before, or you’re on your return journey, sometimes you don’t need to spend so much time on it, and so the journey flies by.

And it seemed like in no time at all we arrived back at the signal tower that we now know to be Dagmar’s observatory. We sailed straight past at first, so as not to attract any attention, but we could see no sign of life at the tower. So we stopped a few hundred yards downstream and made our way back on foot. Dreamy scouted around the tower but he couldn’t see any sign of Herzen’s lot, or any remaining dwarfs, or anyone at all. So he beckoned us up towards the tower, and however stealthy Dreamy had been I think we all spoiled it by being much noisier than that, and then Blume knocked over a box of nails.

And when we got up into the tower we found the trapdoor was open, and there were four bodies lying around it. They were all Reikland state troopers. We wondered what the army could have been doing here, and what could have been in the tower that could kill four of them. Perhaps they were here simply to man the tower and send the signals. I’m not sure who was supposed to man the signal tower once it started functioning.

We shut the trapdoor and made our way round to the front entrance to the old tower. Guido had the key and so, as we watched, with our pistols and bows ready, Guido stepped towards the magic door, and it slid open. And, sorry to leave the girls all scared, mum, but I have to end it here. I will let you know what we find inside the tower in my next letter.