141: Crown Prince Wolfgang

Once news got around the camp that the marriage was on, I think a lot of people were pleased that this would go some way to relieve the tensions, but the more strident on both sides were annoyed by it. Perhaps they wanted conflict. Neither the Grand Theogonist or Ar-Ulric made another appearance, but with the marriage agreed their missions were sort of successful.

Baron Heinrich spoke to Fred and told him it was good that we had been around, especially Erina with her magical power. And he wished us luck with our mission to Castle Reikguard. He said he had some reservations, however, having heard many things about the crown prince. He had heard variously that he was spoiled and had a wild temper, and that he was forming his own army to take power, and of course, that he was a werewolf.

He asked Fred to keep his eyes open and report back anything he managed to learn, especially about why he wanted to marry Katarina, his views on the Mutant Edict, and the Ubersreik takeover. He told him not to hurry back but to spend as much time as he could at Castle Reikguard, trying to get the measure of the crown prince. And he told him that once we had done that to seek him out at Helstein Manor.

Then the baron gave Fred a folded red and white threadbare cloth and told him it was an enchanted war banner that had been captured at Carroburg and would make a fitting pre-nuptial gift for the Sigmarites. But Fred could not help noticing that there was a mischievous glint in the baron’s eye when he handed it over.

Elvyra had seen to my wounds, and so I was ready to travel, but my umgi-made armour was in a poor state, and with no opportunity to get it repaired I took it off and dumped it. Even if we had time to get it fixed, I would not be able to afford it, as I had to give up my money when I went undercover in the slave pits. I still had the crown Blume had given me to give to Bettie Greenhil, the halfling servant, however.

Then Blume gave everyone a crown. She tried to imply that this was wages for serving her, but as far as I could make out, this money belonged as much to Fred and Erina, and to Harry and Guido, for that matter, as it did to Blume. But I suppose, that Greta and I were being offered it meant that we were now part of their group.

Erina tried to thank me for helping her during the fight, but I told her I did not need her thanks, as it was the tactically sound act, and in any case, had she done similar for me, I would not have been inclined to thank her.

Veiran and some Knights Panther were to escort us to Castle Reikguard and we rode to Delberz so we could travel the rest of the way by boat. At Delberz Erina sat with Veiran not saying anything. I think Veiran was happy keeping himself to himself but Erina seemed to be trying to impress him, by not saying anything either. In any case, Dwarfs are much better than any umgi at not saying anything.

I sat with Greta and we had a talk about the company we now found ourselves in. We agreed that it was strange that Blume seemed to have travelled all this way from Boegenhafen, and even further, and had so many adventures and people willing to help her out, and had risen in rank and now walked among the highest nobles in the land, and yet seemed to have barely any redeeming qualities. I wondered if this was a clever ruse, but I think it must be very clever as she never seemed to drop the self-absorbed and insufferable facade for even a moment.

And we wondered why Fred would be so concerned about her. I said he was the sort of person that you could put in charge of guarding the hold’s gate and then forget that you did. And if you came back many weeks later he would still be on duty. And Greta said that sounded like high praise from a dwarf.

The next day we boarded our boat. There was only a cabin for Veiran and the rest of us had to make do with hammocks in the hold. Erina wanted the cabin, too, and made some sort of wager with Veiran for it, but Veiran won. I suspect, however, that had Erina won, she would have been happy to share it with him. The journey was pleasant enough, though, considering it was on water, and everyone said Harry would have enjoyed it.

I think I was beginning to miss the mountains and so to cheer me up I taught everyone a dwarf song about Karaz Ankor, but Erina spoiled it by singing too in tune. I think I was going on about Karaz Ankor too much and telling everyone about how much better dwarf things were than umgi things. But Greta asked me to teach her a few words of Khazalid so she can get to learn the language.

At the end of the second day we reached the Reik and had to head south. Altdorf, a city I very much wish to visit with its great dwarf-built walls, and the spectacular dwarf-built cathedral of Sigmar, and the extensive dwarf-built sewer system, lay to the west, but we did not have time to go there. If we do eventually get there we decided we needed to find Quintus Fassbinder and have a word with him about the Kuftsos-Lieberung letter.

A couple of days later we reached the Reiker Marshes at the confluence of the Reik and the Teufel. It was overlooked by the spectacular Castle Reikguard. As we entered the castle we spotted dwarf runes etched on the battlements, and although I was not very interested in rune smithing, or any sort of smithing, really, I could see that these were runes of protection. And there was one rune of protection against magic.

We got a polite but slightly frosty reception at the castle, and when the staff talked to us, they mostly addressed Veiran, which you couldn’t blame them for. They showed us to our rooms, and gave us half an hour to prepare for our meeting. Blume wondered if she might have a chance of marrying the crown prince instead of Baron Heinrich, and she ordered some of the servants to go and get her some better clothes, but they never returned.

While we were waiting, Veiran grabbed himself a beer, and so Erina grabbed herself the same beer and started drinking it in a similar manner. My beer was really bad. Erina said she felt like her senses were dulled, and I explained that that might be because of the rune of anti-magic. And Erina wondered whether this was how all mundane people felt all the time, But I don’t think she intended to sound as patronising as she did.

And after leaving our weapons outside, we entered the dining room to meet the crown prince. And, they explained to me later that this might be important, he was wearing a purple hat.

He welcomed us quite warmly and we exchanged pleasantries, mostly about his soft furnishings. And Fred felt the need to beg forgiveness for his companions. And then he announced that Katarina would like to accept his proposal. We looked at him intently, keen to see what he really thought about the marriage, but he was quite the politician and inscrutable, and simply said that he was pleased.

And then he said that he was sure that we were all there to sound him out, and that we should feel free to do so, which took the wind out of our surreptitious reconnaissance sails. Fred agreed, and said that the graf only wanted the best for his daughter and that, of course, rumours spread, but he seemed quite normal. And then we were aware that one of our number was a witch hunter, but Greta was here more by coincidence, rather than any specific design of the graf.

And then we were interrupted by a Knights Panther, Preceptor Leberecht von Hardenburg, who spoke to the crown prince about cooperating with forces from Parravon in Bretonnia for an attack on Blood Keep in the Grey Mountains. And von Hardenburg complimented the crown prince on how his great diplomacy had made the campaign possible. When the Knights Panther had left, Wolfgang apologised for the interruption and asked us for our discretion over the the matter.

That made it seem like the crown prince was already in charge of the Empire and so the rumours that we had heard about him taking control, and from Elvyra about the Emperor being out of the loop, seemed to have some truth to them.

Fred then asked him about the Mutant Edict. Wolfgang said that he was surprised by it but happy enough with it. He said, obviously, Sigmarites deplore mutation and there is evidence to suggest that corruption of the body correlates with corruption of the mind, but he was inclined to heed those Verenans and Shallyans who insisted that we treat individuals justly despite their outward appearance. But then he said that it was hastily done, although just in its intentions.

Greta interrupted to say that she understood, but she was anxious that giving them too much freedom could be a disaster, and could lead to the growth of secret cults that needed to be stamped out. And she said we should not suffer a witch to live. And I’m not sure whether she glanced at Erina.

Then we discussed the Talabecland-Ostland war and he said it was just a quarrel between nobles that had grown out of hand, but then we were interrupted again. This time it was by a Shallyan priestess who thanked the crown prince for his generous assistance for her hospice. Wolfgang said anyone would do the same, but the priestess was insistent that they did not, and said it was not just the money that he had contributed but his time and fellowship. And then he apologised again for the interruption.

Blume said that the poor and downtrodden were her favourite people. And Greta congratulated him on his kindness. But Erina cast us a suspicious glance and when we discussed it later we were in agreement that the crown prince may have been lining up these interruptions in order to show himself in as good a light as possible to the representatives of his prospective spouse.

And then we talked about governance in general and the various factions that were keen for changing the political system like New Millennialists and Brustellites, and he said that while these were resentful and bloodthirsty he had sympathy with the idea that some change was needed. Greta warned that there would always be sections of the masses who were resentful of the aristocracy. And the crown prince said that he planned to establish a constitution along the lines of certain of the Tilean republics, obliging the aristocracy to obey common law and give greater import to advisory councils.

Fred asked him about Ubersreik and the crown prince asked us to forgive his candour and that he hesitated to criticise his father’s actions but he didn’t understand why he had been so hasty to project power in the way he did. He said that the best way to resolve matters would be to work out some sort of solution that allowed the Jungfreuds to save face without facilitating a slide back to their habitual regime, which was rather stultifying. Greta suggested that perhaps his father had been badly advised, and the crown prince said that that was possibly true.

Erina asked him what he thought about Katarina, and he said that he had only seen her at a distance. But then we were interrupted again by a humble farmer who the crown prince knew my name. He came in to thank him for his advice, and now his wife was pregnant. And I think that was the point that we knew he had set up these interruptions to make himself look good. And, I think, if this were some sort of pastry based dessert of the crown prince’s making then, I believe the umgi expression is, he had mixed too many eggs in with the flour.

Erina made her excuses at this point, and left to pursue the farmer. And when she tracked him down he repeated that his wife was pregnant following advise from the crown prince, and he was considering naming the child after him (I hope it’s not a girl, then). And Erina decided that the farmer seemed sincere.

And when Erina had returned we talked of the giant rat men. The crown prince was quite frank that they plainly existed and spoke of the genuine threat that they posed. He said he had been corresponding with High King Thorgrim of the Karaz Ankor. And he had promised him that under his rule the Empire would be vigilant of the rat men and state troops would be regularly seconded to assist in tunnel fighting in the mountains. In return, High King Thorgrim had agreed to help re-engineer the walls of the Empire’s cities, and assist in ridding the lands of goblins and beastmen.

And we congratulated Wolfgang and said that was how we had all met, converging on Karak Skygg in our fight against the rat men. And I asked if I could view some of the correspondence (he is my high king, after all) and the crown prince was good enough to allow it.

And we were interrupted again by a grey-robed scholar who said it was time for the crown prince’s lecture and began laying out scrolls. Wolfgang suggested that this would be a good time for us to have dinner.

We noticed that the scrolls were Didrick the Unjust, a Compendium of his Blunders and Contentions by Professor Scheydt, Seven Key Battles of the Age of Wars by Kurt Muller, Scholar, University of Altdorf, Fassbinder’s Astonishing Summary of Sigmarian Controversies and The Unique Divine Nature of Sigmar by Hans Pfaff, Scholar, University of Altdorf.

We noticed Fassbinder’s name, of course, and Erina asked whether she could borrow it. The scholar said no, as it was needed for the lesson, but Wolfgang suggested that it could be brought to her room later. The scholar did explain that Fassbinder had some rum thoughts about accounts of Sigmar’s last journey, and his notions on the true fate of Ghal Maraz were borderline heretical. She said he was a crank with a propensity to favour wild anecdote over solid research and that she only included the book as an example of how not to pursue scholarship.

As we were leaving the crown prince said that he planned to travel to Altdorf soon, and we could go with him, or make our own way back. And then we remembered that we still had the Carroburg banner, and Fred wondered whether it would soon be a good time to present the crown prince with the wedding gift.