52: Halfway

Hello mum, I don’t think you would have guessed what was in the crate after all. But, that’s not important in the end, because it turns out, at least according to Dreamy’s theory, that what is in the crate is a red herring. And I’m not trying to suggest the crate was full of fish.

Anyway, what was actually in the crate was a stuffed magpie, a conch (which is a big shell, mum), the skull of a dog, an old Sigmarite holy symbol - a rusty hammer, a plain pewter goblet, and a book. The book was the Journal of Hieronymous Prosch, 2487–2488, which revealed that Herr Prosch was a wool-trader who drank too much and was having an affair with his wife’s serving-maid, but again, I don’t think that’s important. Anyway, Willow read out a few bits of the journal and they were a bit rude, so I won’t say anything about them here, because I know the girls are listening.

And with all that strange stuff was a note that said:

Captain Scharlach,

Hoffen Strasse,

At the sign of the Crossed Keys,

Middenheim

From the desk of Matthias Blucher

Gentlemen,

I am sending you five items which were described some months ago by a member of your society to my brother-in-law, Albrecht Oldenhaller of Nuln, which your society was said to be most desirous of recovering, and which have fallen by chance into my hands. There is no charge, but please remember this service my family has done you.

With most sincere greetings,

Matthias Blucher

And when he saw what a strange and seemingly innocent collection of items we had been carrying, Guido got mad at Blume for opening the crate. He said that they might be unusual, which they were, but they were certainly not nefarious, which they weren’t. And then he stormed out and went back to the bar, which is where I was waiting for everyone unaware of what had been going on.

Willow said that we should just put everything back in the box and get someone to mend the seal. Blume said she could do it, but Willow wanted someone competent. Blume suggested we should find a wizard, or someone like that, to examine the objects and see if they actually were nefarious, but I think everyone already realised they weren’t.

Anyway, mum, it was still a very odd collection of objects and we all pondered what they could be for. It did not seem like it would be worth paying hundreds of crowns to get them to Middenheim, as it looked like the sort of rubbish you could pick up in a flea market in any city. And we thought about the chain of events described in the letter and we wondered what the society could be that it referred to. We had already clashed with a ‘society’ in Boegenhafen, and I think we were all thinking the same thing about groups of people who call themselves societies, but are vague on the details.

It seemed very strange to me that one of the society could be chatting to Albrecht Oldenhaller (whoever he is – I know the Oldenhallers are a famous mercantile house based in Nuln, but that was about it) about that strange list of items. And then Oldenhaller mentioned that to Matthias Blucher. And then Blucher just happened to come across those exact items in Altdorf. It didn’t make any sense. None of it made any sense, and so we read the letter again but it still didn’t.

Then Dreamy pointed out that there were actually six items in the crate, not five. But there were five of us, and then suddenly it did make sense. And it suddenly became very nefarious again. The society could be the same sort of society that we had encountered in Boegenhafen, or the purple people who were hounding Blume. And they wanted to get us up to Middenheim, and do nefarious things to us. And Guido remembered that one of Etelka Herzen’s now-burned letters mentioned uncle Isaac lived in Middenheim (I know he’s not your brother, mum). And Blume remembered the purple people in Altdorf who had noticed the address on the crate and then left us alone. So it was looking extremely nefarious.

But Guido suggested that we should go to Middenheim anyway, and pretend to fall for the trap, because we now knew it was a trap so that gave us an advantage. I think it appealed to his Myrmidian strategic mindset. And we decided that if we could fix the seal to make it look unbroken from a distance then that might help us fool the enemy for a few moments.

We had a discussion about whether we could outwit whatever this society was. Blume said the best way to avoid the trap was not to even go to Middenheim. But Guido told her that there were nefarious forces and, just like he had heard we had done in Boegenhafen, we were obliged to deal with it for the greater good. Dreamy said we should sort it out so that we did not spend the rest of our lives looking over our shoulder. And in the end we decided we would go there. Even Blume agreed, probably because she didn’t want to have to look over her shoulder at the purple people all the time.

Willow and Blume had an argument over who could be the captain of Der Kutsche. And Blume was rude to Willow, asking what she had ever done to help us, and in the end Willow stormed out and I think she was crying (I had something in my eye – Willow). But in the end Blume said Willow could be captain (to be honest, mum, I thought I would carry on being the captain. Not sure why they didn’t want me).

And so to toast our agreement and our mission to go to Middenheim to confront the nefarious we all had a shot of the local spirit, jaegermaester (I didn’t like mine – Willow). And then we went to bed.

In the morning we had bacon sandwiches again. I’m not sure if anyone in Middenland ever has anything other than bacon sandwiches for breakfast. And if they don’t then I hope we get to Middenheim as soon as possible.

During the journey Blume set to work remaking the seal she had broken. We couldn't remember what the seal had looked like but she copied the winged skull crest on the letter and hoped it was the same. And after all her hard work we all agreed that it looked average.

And at the end of the day we arrived at the town of Brockel and the large Market Inn which had lots of Four Seasons coaches parked up. Willow and Blume went shopping at the market, and Willow found a woodworker who she convinced to come to the wagon and have a look at the crate, and he agreed that he would try to carve a better seal than Blume had made. I think he thought we were criminals or something, but he still agreed to do it. And in return Willow gave him therapy for his injured arm.

And of course, at the inn Guido had to ask everyone about the witch hunters who were strung up. And I think he asks things in such a way that popple are a bit reluctant to give him the wrong answer so he generally hears what he wants to hear, which in my opinion is not the best way to do an investigation.

No one had really heard about it, but Guido refused to believe that. He got more and more insistent and in the end someone told him that the witch hunters had just put up a roadblock and had been checking people who were travelling up and down the road, so I think the tale had been exaggerated somewhat as it journeyed towards Altdorf. Anyway, I think this is all supposed to have happened in Delberz and we will reach Delberz soon.

Guido said that when he pushed harder him he got the information that he wanted to hear, so he decided that the best way to get information in future would be to be more forceful.

In the morning, we had bacon sandwiches again and the wood worker had finished the seal and he had made a much better job of it that Blume.

There was a definite nip in the air as we travelled north, and we passed quite a lot of dispossessed travellers, trudging slowly towards Altdorf or begging at the side of the road. I think they had survived bandit attacks and stuff like that. Willow wanted to help them all, but that was impossible. But she did help a couple of ill looking ones. And Guido helped her get an arrow head out of the shoulder of one poor fellow.

And by the evening we reached a grand old building which was called the halfway house, in Mittelweg, which also means half way. I’m not sure if you can tell, mum, but we were about halfway between Altdorf and Middenheim by now.

As luck would have it they were having a special festival which was probably called halfway festival to celebrate the fact they were half way between Altdorf and Middenheim. I think they are always halfway between Altdorf and Middenheim, and so they have the festival every day. There was a special halfway meal with halfway beer and halfway souvenirs, and there were free refills on the beer, but I think they watered it down a bit, halfway, probably. And the meal was pork ribs and mash which wasn’t bacon sandwiches, at least.

Oh yeah, mum, I had forgotten, the beer came in mugs that were semi circular so you had to out two together to get a proper mug, and you had to drink them half at a time. To be honest mum, I think they were over playing their half way thing a bit (they were making the best of their location – Willow).

This evening Guido didn’t bother protecting the crate like he had done before, because it wasn’t important any more. And because the drink was free, Blume drank too much of it and had to be helped to her room by Guido. I’m not sure how they can afford to have a free drink festival every night, but they do.

In the morning Guido said Willow could go with him on the morning scout (I sat up on Priscilla – Willow). And while they were scouting I think Willow asked Guido lots of questions because she was concerned about his lack of faith in Myrmidia and his turning towards Sigmar, and things like that, but I don’t think Guido was that talkative. Willow suggested that Guido might find what he was looking for through Esmerelda, but I don’t think he took her very seriously. And to be honest, mum, I don’t think Esmerelda is right for Guido.

Guido explained that the gods were a pantheon and that meant you could believe in all of them at once, like Esmerelda, Josias, Hyacinth and the other one. And Willow agreed and said it was called a pantheon because it was like cooking a meal in a pan and if you just have one ingredient it’s not as nice, but if you mix a bit of everything you get a delicious meal.

Guido said that sometimes Willow does speak very wisely (I think I do, too – Willow). But he said that Sigmar had given him a tool to do a job and so he needed to get that job done. And when a god blesses you, you shouldn’t ignore it.

So, that’s that, mum, we’re halfway on our journey to Middenheim. The journey is taking a lot longer than I thought it would, but you never know, maybe one day we will actually get there.