53: Delberz

Hello mum, are you still reading these? I have used up so much of Willow’s paper and ink sending these letters to you so regularly I wonder whether you bother to get someone to read them out to you and the girls or you just stuff them into your mattress like you did with all Aunt Primrose’s letters, when she boasts about how well all her chickens are doing and how tall she gets her roses.

Anyway, if you are still reading, and to be honest I don’t think I would be by now, this is what happened on the second half of our journey to Middenheim. If you remember, we had just left the Halfway House and Guido was still scouting ahead with Willow (he let me ride on Priscilla – Willow) and I think he was lecturing her on what a hard world it was, and telling her she was too nice for her own good and that a dead surgeon is no good to anyone. He mentioned how Dreamy was more attuned to the dangers of the world and more cut-throat, and that she should be the same. And Willow agreed that she should give it a try (but I won’t cut any throats – Willow).

Then they saw that there were armed men blocking the road ahead. I think Guido thought they might be highwaymen, although he had been searching for a witch hunter roadblock for several days now. And once they got closer, they realised that these were the witch hunters, and Guido asked them if they had any news. They told him that they would be the ones asking questions, but I think Guido soon convinced them that they were on the same side (he flashed them his sword – Willow) and they began to converse more like equals.

The leader of the witch hunters introduced himself as Heinrich Kramer of the Order of the Silver Hammer and told him they were searching for anti-Sigmarite activity, and that some Sigmarites had been attacked by extremists called the Sons of Ulric, who, they claimed, were under the influence of the dark gods.

Kramer asked Guido where he came by his sword, and Guido told him it was a long story, and then of course, told him all about it. He left out some of the story, I expect, and only included the bits that made him look good, and that would be acceptable to witch hunters who I understand can be a bit over enthusiastic when they are rooting out the followers of the dark gods.

So when we arrived in Der Kutsche, Guido was sat next to Kramer by the side of the road telling him all about how he had killed the witch of Castle Wittgenstein and destroyed the castle.

Kramer looked at us a bit suspiciously, and examined the box, but didn’t open it. And he asked Blume if she was a devout follower of Sigmar (he didn’t seem to care what us halflings thought about anything). Blume said she was loyal to Sigmar (which she is) and said she loved the fashionable lines on his hammer and his sassy personality. Guido was careful to translate this into words that Kramer would find more acceptable. And she also wondered about how fashionable the witch hunter’s hat was. Kramer looked at Blume intently, and even I could see that he was angry, but I think Blume just thought he fancied her.

Guido told him we were taking the box to Middenheim and asked if there were any witch hunters still there we could contact, Kramer said that because of the hostility to Sigmarites his order had been ordered to pack up and go south but High Capitular Werner Stolz remained tall and proud amidst the growing tensions at the Temple of Sigmar.

Kramer also said that as well as the anti-Sigmarite feeling there, there were strange political moves going on in the city including punitive taxes and they were even saying that Sigmar isn’t a real god. He said the Ulrican state was corrupt and Ar-Ulric, the head of the Ulrican cult, was rotten to the core, and the whole place had the stink of corruption.

Guido asked what the Imperial forces were doing about this, and Kramer looked a bit sheepish as he said that the emperor had been a little distracted.

So once we had set off again Guido told Blume off for what she had said and told her that people had been burnt at the stake for less. He said not everything was a game and she had to learn when to be serious. But Blume said that wearing a big hat like that just proved he had something to hide from Sigmar. And to be honest, when she says stuff like that, mum, it kind of makes sense. But Guido just stormed off, muttering something in Tilean.

So then Dreamy tried to explain things to Blume. He said that he would feel a lot safer fighting bandits than witch hunters. And Blume replied that was because he wasn’t a witch. But that was the point. Dreamy said that sometimes witch hunters don’t care whether you’re a witch or not. And in any case, if they caught a glimpse of her purple hands then she may as well be a witch.

When Guido came back he had a quiet word with Dreamy telling him everything the witch hunters had told him about Middenheim. He said it was going to get dangerous and Blume and Willow might end up being liabilities and that we should be careful.

We managed to reach Delberz before nightfall. This was where Guido had heard the massacre had been and the hangings, and he asked around, and locals agreed that some people had been hanged but it didn’t look like the site of a massive uprising or anything like that, so I think those stories must have been exaggerated.

There was a big coaching inn, here, called the Great Oak (it was next to a great oak) but it had loads of Four Seasons coaches in the courtyard so we decided to go the smaller place down the road called the Wheel and Anchor.

We stabled the ponies and went in for a beer (Peony was playing up again – Willow). Guido didn’t bother to get a private room this time because he decided he didn’t need to protect the crate any more, but Blume still got one, even though she said she was getting short of cash and we said she could sleep on Der Kutsche.

I went for a walk down to the docks because I wanted to look at the boats, because I think I was missing them. We had made Der Kutsche quite cosy with a bed and a stove but it wasn’t like Das Moot. It was a shame Das Moot had burned because we could have sailed it here before continuing on to Middenheim by foot, but I don’t think it would have been much quicker, anyway.

Blume got talking to someone in the Wheel. He was a merchant who traded in farming equipment. He said everyone needed farming equipment, but Blume didn’t. She asked him about the massacre and things like that and he said some witch hunters had been attacked, but didn’t know whether any had been murdered.

Then he said that his mother was a washer woman at Castle Reikguard, and she said she saw Crown Prince Wolfgang and he was more wolf than gang. And when Blume told Willow about this she said that could have been why the emperor had made the new laws about there being no such thing as a mutant. And Willow said it was probably all lies and that Blume shouldn't tell anyone else that sort of nonsense. But I’m not sure she said it because she really thought it was untrue or because she didn’t want Blume blabbing to the witch hunters and getting strung up under the great oak.

In the morning there was a nip in the air, like every bloody morning up north. And because they eat nothing but bacon butties for breakfast, and I was sick of them, I made some scramborridge.

That day we stopped at a small town called Sotturm, and Dreamy bought some more supplies, just in case. And Blume spotted a red wizard. His name was Hot Johan, which I suppose is a good name for a red wizard. She asked him if he would scry into our crate and make sure none of the contents were nefarious. So, for some silver coins, he cast a spell, as Blume held up the crate for him, and he looked a bit perplexed. Then he asked Blume to put the box down and step a way, and when he cast the spell again he said there was no nefarious at all.

And so that was when Blume realised that all the purple over her hands was properly nefarious. She asked Hot Johan if he could get rid of it for her. He asked her how it had happened and Blume told him a tale that was largely true. I’m not sure how suspicious he was of her, and he agreed to do it, but I think she was lucky he didn’t report her to the witch hunters.

The spell was very painful and seemed to burn the purple away, but Blume managed to keep her hands still the entire time, and when he had finished the purple was gone but they looked quite red, like they had been burned. And Hot Johan said Blume was lucky he hadn’t set fire to her clothes. And when Blume got back to Willow she put some smelly fish skins on it (I think I just made it worse – Willow).

That evening we reached Malstedt and an inn that had been called the Imperial Crown. But someone had painted the head of a white wolf over the sign, so I think that meant they’d changed the name. And the Four Seasons logo had also been painted over with a wolf.

As we entered the inn, Guido told Blume not to tell anyone she was a Sigmarite and said if they asked us anything about religion to just to say we were three halflings and didn’t know much about it.

We had some food and drink, and we had to help Blume because she was in so much pain, but I think she just likes to be waited on. And Guido stayed in the common room again and Blume got a private room.

Guido asked the landlord about the sign and he said that it was wise to be ahead of the game just in case. But it seemed like he was being careful not to back one side or the other. He did seem to think there was a possibility that Middenland could secede from the Empire. The landlord said that a lot of people were pro-Middenland and they were asking why they should have to obey Altdorf, when it was so far away.

And we wondered whether it was possible that the provinces could split without there being a war. It seemed doubtful, but as you know mum, Farmer Joseph split from his first wife, and moved in next door with his second wife and that was done peacefully. And we even spotted him hopping over the garden fence at night, so it could be done. But Guido said if the provinces did split there was bound to be war.

In the morning there was a chill in the air. This is the furthest north I’ve even been, mum, so I shouldn’t be surprised it’s cold, but it’s supposed to be the summer. And I made scramborridge again, because of the bacon baps. What with the weather and the food, I’m beginning to think it really is grim up north, but that’s just what you have to put up with when you are fighting the nefarious, mum. I’ll write to you again, soon, mum, especially if we spot anything for breakfast that isn’t a bacon sandwich, or if it warms up a bit.