From the Journal of one Wigmar Heck, pt 14 (Spring in the Vorbergland)

 

Emmaretta

In my haste to put the living dead behind me, to forget their very existence, I forgot to mention the newest addition to Wigmar's Marvelous Menagerie: Fraülein Emmaretta, the Crazy Cat Lady!

Sometime after crossing the Bridge of Terrified Horses (I was busy chatting with Thesalva and the hours flew by), we came across four unpleasant fellows that had a noose around a girl's neck - and were slowly strangling her. A couple of big forest cats were lurking in the undergrowth and the men were keeping their crossbows ready.

Words were exchanged and the unwashed simpletons chose to leave the girl in my care. Good for them, or we would have shot them all dead. Emmaretta, a girl in her 20s (she seems about my age, maybe younger, definitely older than Isolde) with ha the color of beaten copper. From the hill country, a ranger by vocation, beloved by cats. Not household cats, but those forest cats that grow the size of a hunting dog.

We agreed to help her get her cousin, Karl, out of jail in Jettenberg. It seemed a job well suited for von Liberung. A just and noble task. Seeing as he had been imprisoned, for no reason at all, by the same folks that had tried hanging Emmaretta.

But would you believe: no sooner had I convinced the magistrate to unshackle the man before the wretch fled for the hills. Emmaretta did not follow. She's a good sort. Loyal and trustworthy. She fits just fine with A&A and my lady wife. I think I'll ask her to come to my lands and work for me. I've got hills aplenty up there if the map doesn't lie (I should probably learn to read maps - I think that's something nobles know how-to).

1 Sigmarzeit

We spent the first day of the month of Sigmar waiting for the Graf in Jettenberg. It's a smallish walled town, on the eastern side of the Tahme. We might have missed it entirely if we hadn't been looking for it: you have to take a side road, cross a bridge, and then some distance up the valley.

Gert Krügdel, Graf of Jettenberg (and the surrounding hill country) looked and acted the part of a true Reikland noble. He is what von Liberung needs to be. He listened to our tale, offered us an escort (we declined), and then we parted ways on good terms. Next time he's in Übersreik he'll call upon my home. Better get my affairs in order before that. having a real graf over will be great for von Liberung's status and credibility.

2-5 Sigmarzeit

We left Jettenberg and rejoined the main road south. Slow going along the western banks of the Tahme, the Hägercybs looming on our left-hand side. Reminds me of the Five Sisters up near Neue Etzel, only bigger and more forbidding. You could lose an army in those mountain valleys and no one would ever find the remains. Maybe there are cults to the Ahalt, the Drinker up there? I shudder at the thought and hope never to go there in person.

On the 5th we came to the trading town of Schrabwald. We've left the Reikswald forest behind. From here on we'll follow the hills of the Vorbergland down to Übersreik.

6 Sigmarzeit

Schrabwald is not much different from other Vorbergland towns. Except for one thing: they keep their dwarfs locked up inside a ghetto. They are only allowed into the town on market days or under escort. And the most insane part: the town council says it's for the dwarfs' own protection. Meanwhile, the good citizens are busy peddling fake "dwarf" goods to unsuspecting travelers. What a dump!

We met Brunda Gromsdottir, a smith and artisan of some skill (she also has impressive biceps - but no beard), in the dwarf ghetto. convinced her to come along for the trip, to see the Liberung lands with her own dwarven eyes. If she likes what she sees, I could have an entire group of mangy-looking hard-drinking dwarfs on my lands...

7-15 Sigmarzeit

We departed Schrabwald in the company of Brunda. Of the rest of the journey, I write but little. Four days to Siedlung, five more to Ubersreik, and that's all there is to it. I've rekindled my affair with A&A but that's fine by my wife. She's got an affair with them as well. And Emmaretta is mixed up in it too. I try not to let it get out of hand but so many women...such intoxicating music, the wild dancing, and the drinks...it's hard to behave the proper gent, I tell you that.

In the afternoon of the 15th of Sigmarzeit we finally gazed upon the walls of Übersreik...

From the Journal of one Wigmar Heck, pt 13 (Got married in a fever)

 

29 Pflugzeit

Did the honorable thing and got married in Tahme (when the locals say the word it sounds like Dahme, which feels more natural). The local priest of Randal tied the knot. We're Wigmar and Isolde von Liberung now. Spent the day wining and dining and the wedding night wasn't half bad. The blushing bride wasn't a virgin but I already knew that. If we don't get an heir soon it's not for lack of trying. Nothing wrong with my lovely mistresses, fine women both, but I have to say those young women of noble birth are something special. So slender and supple, so eager. 

It'll be a good marriage, I'm sure.

30 Pflugzeit

Departed Tahme accompanied by a fellow whose name eludes me. No matter - undoubtedly a false name. He offered to make us a trade: our little wagon for a much sturdier one that he had stashed just outside town. When asked about his motivations he explained he only had the one horse and couldn't afford to get another. A smaller wagon would be a boon. So pretty much a brigand getting rid of his ill-gotten gains.

Half expected to get attacked by those very brigands but I supposed our weapons and armor convinced them otherwise. Just as well. We would have fought them off, certainly, but being taken in ambush is always an uncertain thing. And with so many women to protect, including my lady wife...

We barely made it to the little town of Havelfurt before dark. Other than having a road leading to Bögenhafen it was a very nice place. Cleaner than most places. There was a feeling of safety and something else I couldn't put my finger on. Peaceful maybe?

31 Pflugzeit

Another day spent on the road, another roadside inn. We're making slow progress, getting up late and eating a hearty breakfast. No wonder, given the amount of night-time activity. Being newly-wed I'm giving my wife all my affection, but I can hear A&A on the other side of the wall. They are quite loud sometimes. Come to think of it, Isolde gets loud at times too. And not only when entertaining in the common room, if you get my drift.

But there is no rush, is there? The road is going nowhere and neither are my lands. We'll travel at our leisure and enjoy ourselves rather than rush along the roads like common merchants.

32 Pflugzeit

Around midday, we came to a stone bridge crossing a tributary river. There was no shortage of water in this one, coming down from the Hägecrybs, but not enough of it to matter in the grander scale of things. 

The ravine was too steep to cross without the use of said bridge. There was something of a traffic jam on both sides. Turned out horses wouldn't cross for no reason I could determine. Magic? Troll piss? Who knows.

Men could cross just fine though. So we made a deal with some traders on the far side to switch our horses for some of theirs. With some effort, we man-handled the wagons across and that was that. Better than turning back or taking the long way around through the hills.

I later learned the bridge acted like that every year around the same date. Something to do with a dwarven curse or some such nonsense. I'll make a note to avoid the bridge around the end of Pflugzeit - problem solved.

The affair with the bridge slowed our progress and forced us to spend the name at a ghastly inn called the Hooded Man. Or was it the Hanged Man? The name eludes me, but no matter. Long story short: we were attacked by mutants. They had murdered the innkeep and his people and were posing as them. The handful of locals present turned out to be mutants as well. There was quite the fight but we put them to the sword.

33 Pflugzeit

In the morning I and the big guy took a little detour to check up on the village of Osterndorf, the only settlement nearby. I had a mind to see if there were more mutants about.

That's when things took a turn from bad to worse. A boy of ten or twelve or eight or something - I'm not good with kids - came running down the rutty road with a babe in his hands. Not far after came a dead man walking. It took quite some effort to put down dead flesh. I suppose being dead makes it hard to kill them again.

The kid explained the villagers had pulled a strange black stone out of the dried-out river. Not long after the dead had risen from their graves to murder the living. As far as the kid knew he was the only one to get out alive. Him and his dear baby brother, who had died of a fever in the winter. I'm not often moved but it was a sad thing we had to do. And the only thing we could do.

We headed back to the others to get some backup and to get the boy out of harm's way. Then we returned to Osterndorf to set things right. I'd rather not write about any of it. Suffice to say we took the stone from the dead and hurled it into the river. The dead are now gathered around it, waiting for the waters to rise.

We reached the town of Jettenberg in the evening and reported our grizzly findings. The powers that be bade us remain in town until they could get their Graf. So we threw a party at the town's best inn (such as there was) to pass the time and unwind. 

I did the thing with Thesalva. I figure it's not infidelity. We were merely doing something we should have done already before I married. Plus I'm a nobleman. Nobles do stuff like that all the time. It was nice but frantic, almost mechanical. She's a good warrior but I don't think she's spent much time practicing her bed skills. For all her lack of finesse: how can I go back to my human women after this?