15 Pflugzeit
We arrived on the docks of Bögenhafen the very day before the Schaffenfest, the great spring fair. Living aboard the little boat didn't seem fitting for von Liberung and his retinue so we left the Berebeli in search of accommodations. Got a tip about a nice inn over by the East Gate called Ende der Reise - the Journey's End. We got lucky: as we arrived the innkeep was evicting a pimp and his ladies from the premises (hadn't been paying the landlord a percentage). Got a room for Isolde and her ladies (Thesalva included) and one for Freiherr von Liberung and his not-so-ladylike companions. Philippe and Ulfberth will just have to make do. Can't go around paying for everybody. Not until I have my inheritance. Then I'll have money enough.
Speaking of which: the inheritance was too good to be true. I took Thesalva and went to see the lawyers at Lock, Stock, and Barl. I think Barl may be one of those gnomes. Or maybe he's just a small dwarf or a midget. Or a hairy, ugly halfling. Anyway. The inheritance was real enough. A deed for some land outside Ubersreik (and a house in the town). A gold signet ring, a dagger with the coat of arms cut into the pommel - and a purse of some twenty lousy gold. Not twenty thousand. But twenty. All that was left after the legal fees and such claimed the gnome-dwarf-midget-halfling-person.
The letter I carried promised twenty thousand was a forged document. Or so the gnome claimed. Naturally, I was a bit disappointed. But not entirely surprised. I always suspected it was too good to be true - and probably a trap. I had a chat with his partners, Herr Lock (a dwarf, specializing in commerce law) and Herr Stock (an elderly human, specializing in guild law). We decided to agree to disagree and to bring the matter before Magistrate Richter on the very next day. I then paid them a small sum to prepare documents to change my name from Kastor to Wigmar. My claim is tenuous at best. I need all the help I can get to make this official.
An old friend
Adolphus Kuftsos, the bounty hunter from Weissbruck, came to see me at the inn later that evening. He had arrived before us in Bögenhafen (as promised) and must have been keeping the lawyers under surveillance. Turned out he's the one responsible for forging that document. It was a trap all right, to draw Kastor out so he could be captured.
Kastor had been involved in some really nasty shit up in Nuln a few years ago. Something about a cult and possible blood sacrifice. Nasty business that. As the "magister impedimentae" Kastor had been responsible for, among other things, snatching people off the streets. He'd picked up the wrong person and had fled the city. The bounty hunter had worked for a long time to find him and lure him out into the open.
Adolphus had no idea if this Kastor fellow was even remotely related to the late Baronet Liberung. It was all just a convenient ploy, an opportunity too good to pass over. He forged the letter and sent it to Nuln, trusting it to reach the real Kastor sooner or later. The important part is my lands do exist and I'm not going to let these clerical details stop me from claiming my birthright.
I told the bounty hunter what had become of Kastor: long dead and left to rot in the woods. He was disappointed. He'd hoped to bring him in alive, for questioning (more like gruesome torture until death). We parted on good terms and even agreed to travel together to Ubersreik after the Schaffenfest.
Unfortunately, poor Adolphus was murdered that very night, not far from the inn. Stabbed many times and throat cut. Really vicious attack. Savage. I guess Kastor's "friends" from Altdorf are still on to us (according to Adolphus they may still believe I'm the real Kastor and that I'm trying to cash in and leave my old friends out in the cold). We have to be careful and vigilant.
16 Pflugzeit
What a day. It started simple enough. Did some errands. Then I brought Barl (I'm sure he's a gnome, I want to ask, but it would be ill-mannered, and manners are what sets a Reiklander noble apart from the common chaff) to see Chief Magistrate Heinz Richter at the Festival Court. Apparently, this Richter fellow was the one magistrate Barl trusted to expedite matters quickly and to our mutual satisfaction.
My companions drifted off, each to sate their own festive tastes. Marie ended up in the wrestling ring (mild surprise), Ulfberth in the beer tents (no surprise), and so forth. In the end, only trusted Thesalva remained at my side. She's almost like a dog, following me around for no reward beyond a bit to eat and drink. No, not a dog. She's too pretty and smells much too nice to warrant such a description. But the point stands: why does she cling to my side?
Richter seemed a decent sort for a judge. Aged but not decrepit. Stern but not unfair. Not one for long-winded speeches - or bribes. My name is now Wigmar von Liberung, formerly known as Kastor Liberung. Didn't mention my disagreement with the lawyers over the twenty thousand. I'm never getting the twenty thousand. But if I play my cards right, I could get something out of it.
I did manage to invite the Chief Magistrate to eat a quick lunch and presented to him my request for a scene for Lady Isolde. He said no, not his business. Fair enough. After lunch, I spent some time with Isolde (Marie finally out of the way) and together we gawked at Doctor Malthusius's Zoocopeia and all the strange creatures it contained. I'll describe each of them in my letter to Bova von Dunkelberg. Not sure what's legal or not for a freakshow.
That's when things took a hard turn towards strangedorf. One of the creatures - a huge creature that looked like the lovechild of an ogre and a rat - tore free and rampaged through the crowd. I shot it five times before it would be still (think I'll have some more silver bullets made, just in case). Another creature, a three-legged mutant goblin, had run away during the confusion.
Soon I found myself before the Chief Magistrate, promising to round up the goblin. In return, a handsome reward - and a stage for Isolde. The Zoocopeia would be turned into her playground for the duration of the Shcaffenfest. Half the income for her, the other half to the city, to pay for damages and compensate the families of the dead.
So I went looking for the greenskin. It had escaped into the sewers. Of course, it had. Baronet von Liberung does not normally enter the sewers but a promise to the Chief Magistrate must be honored. But that's a problem for the morrow. Tonight we will eat and drink and celebrate. The future looks bright. Very bright indeed.
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