19 Pflugzeit
With Bögenhafen out of sight - if not out of mind - we had us a little party to celebrate our victory and honor the fallen. Isolde drank too deeply and too quickly. Puked and passed out long before what's proper, even for a lady. She's young and has lost the most. I will strive to be supportive and give her the affection she deserves.
Had a chat with Josef and Philippe. After dropping us off at Ubersreik, Josef will take the Berebeli downriver, sell all the goods (he's estimating a profit of between 800 and 1200 gold if all goes well), get rid of the boat, and get another one. The Berebeli is old and decrepit - and she's one of the few things to link us to the Bögenhafen docks. Better she changes hands and name. My brother will then rejoin us in Ubersreik, where we'll set up a business together. I'll arrange for a warehouse or something - the merchants of Bögenhafen had a lot of those and they were stinking rich - and also buy a quarter share in the new barge. Could call it Janna-Marie or something. Nothing wrong with honoring the dead.
Speaking of Ubersreik that's where we'll stash Anna & Annika. Fine women the both of them, but they are not combatants and never will be. Perhaps they can set up shop in the von Liberung townhouse or something. I don't have all the details rear - never even been to Ubersreik before - but it'll be fine, I'm sure of it.
Thesalva and Ulfberth are with me all the way, over the top and through the breach. Finer, braver, and more loyal companions no warrior could wish for. If their own peoples won't have them, their loss. Von Liberung will count them as his best man/elf.
We were a bit overloaded so we had to drop off some crate or the other in deep water. That done, we floated better and slowly sailed downriver towards Weissbruck. The current was working to our advantage, but the northerly winds were not. Josef says maybe five days to Weissbruck where he'll unload some legit cargo he picked up in Bögenhafen.
Debated sending another letter to Bova. I'll pass - for now. I'm not sure she can be trusted, not like my companions can. That's what my instincts tell me, and I like to think of myself as a good judge of character.
20-23 Pflugzeit
More time spent on the river. It's getting pretty boring.
Isolde is moody and given to drink, and her performances make grown men cry. Not because they are bad, but because they are sad. Rather than let her suffer I gave her a good dicking. That brought about quite the change. The way she plays that lute... no one can resist the call to dance. And no woman can resist the Wigmar.
Philippe shot a man in the face down in Gramdorf. Tried to stab a crippled man after calling him a liar, a cheat, and worse. Justice served if you asked me. Ten gold crowns and the city watch agreed wholeheartedly.
On the 23rd we reached Weissbruck and got rid of the cargo. News from Bögenhafen had gotten there before us. Well, not very accurate news. Just rumors, some of them pretty wild.
24-28 Pflugzeit
Josef turned the Berebeli around and we went upriver again. When we reached Gramdorf we left the Bögen to go up the Blut - the blood river, so named because of its ruddy color. Philippe was not allowed to shoot anyone this time.
The Blut is not as wide as the Bögen but flows more quickly. Through deep forests, we traveled for three days, the mighty Hägercrybs growing in front of us with every passing hour. On the eve of the third day, we reached the small town of Blutroch.
It's a challenge to keep all the ladies happy. I can't wait to get to Ubersreik so I can get away from them.
The day after Blutroch we left the red river and sailed south, up the Tahme river. The Hägercrybs are to our left now, covered in dark, forested valleys, except for some jagged, barren peaks. Who knows what horrors lurk there. We won't find out, because we're taking the long way around.
On the evening of the 28th, we put in at Tahme, a large trading town in the heart of the Reikwald. We quickly learned the Berebeli wasn't going further upriver. The water level of the Tahme was too low for a barge as big and heavily laden. This was unusual for this time of year. Some blamed a lack of winter snows, others a lack of spring rains. Another theory was jealous dwarves damming the river.
Josef will turn the Berebeli around and head of Carroburg and maybe Marienburg. The rest of us will go overland to Ubersreik. I think I'll make a small offering to Ranald. I was getting mighty fed up with that boat and the constant wet and creaking.
Let von Liberung ride into Ubersreik in style, rather than come as a lowly peasant aboard a rotten barge!
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