2: Bertholt Schuebel

Marktag 2^nd Pflugszeit

In the morning, Balden and Max came down for breakfast, where Frau Koester was ladling thin gruel into bowls for tuppence a go. Some rough looking tall bloke came and sat down next to you, and introduced himself as Heinrich Lang from Middenheim. You got the impression he might be wanted by the law in Middenland, or something like that. Max didn’t mind, though, because he was wanted by the bailiffs in the Reikland. No one wanted Balden, though, not even his parents.

You had a look at the jobs board in the guest house and as Fred and Kris didn’t seem to be coming down to breakfast, you decided that Heinrich could help out if you found a job.

You wondered about the bodyguarding job and asked Frau Koester about it, and she said it looked a bit dodgy as the payment looked really vague and she also doubted that you could do the job, although Heinrich did look a bit more of a fighter than Max or Balden.

Then you thought about the damsel in distress job and Frau Koester doubted you would be tough enough for that but you ignored her and got directions to the Wayward Lad inn.

Damsel in Distress requires strong arms to dispense justice. Fifteen minute’s work for a good day’s pay.

Contact Frau Konigsberg at the Wayward Lad Inn

It was up in the Noord Miragliano district and she told you to be careful up there, and you knew that there was some deadly rivalry between the Miraglianese gang and the Reman gang across the Daankkanaal.

On the way up, Max spotted a cat in an alleyway that looked like it might be Fluuffy from the ad, and he tried to entice it with a scrap of food but the cat just stared at him. Then Heinrich crept up the alleyway and got close enough to try to grab it, but the cat bolted at the last moment and climbed onto a nearby roof. And so Heinrich decided to try climbing up to it, but soon gave up. And the cat just looked at you as you walked off.

As you approached the Wayward Lad you noticed that a lot of the houses’ shutters and awnings and things were painted in red and white, the colours of Miragliano. At the inn you spoke to the landlord about Frau Konigsberg and he clearly didn’t trust you, but in the end, went up to check with her and told you you could go up and see her.

You found a young lady who was remarkably well-dressed for the down-market inn and she introduced herself as Andrea Konigsberg. She said she had fallen on hard times as she had been laid low by a rake and a cad, and wished to see him injured for the injuries he did upon her. She named him as Bertholt Schuebel at the Hammer and Bucket. She was very melodramatic.

You agreed to sort him out and before you could even discuss payment she handed over three guilders and said you could keep whatever you could get off of Schuebel, too. You decided she was very naive to hand over the money before you’d even done anything, and you thought about just taking the money and running. But you decided to do the job anyway.

The Hammer and Bucket was across the bridge in the Reman district, Remasweg, and you noticed that a lot of the buildings here were painted blue and white. Heinrich put on a very convincing Miraglianese accent, reasoning that should you cause trouble in the Reman district, the rival Miraglianese might be blamed for it. You found the inn and decided that the alleyway behind it was a good place for an ambush so you got an urchin to take a message to Schuebel:

To Bertholt Schuebel, If you’re interested in making some easy money, meet me in the alley behind the Hammer and Bucket. I will be alone, Karl.

And it wasn’t long before someone (it was Schuebel) turned up. Max was standing in plain sight while Balden and Heinrich were hidden, and so when Schuebel approached Max it was easy to get behind him. Schuebel asked Max if he wanted some ‘radish.’

Heinrich sneaked up and whispered that this was a message from Andrea Konigsberg and punched him in the head, and Balden joined in and punched him too. Then Max drew his dagger and went to stab Schuebel but he just managed to avoid the blade.

Schuebel drew his sword and managed to slash Max across his belly and seeing the blades come out Balden and Heinrich drew theirs, too. Balden missed with his dagger but Heinrich stabbed Schuebel in the leg.

Badly injured and surrounded, Schuebel tried to leg it, but Balden tackled him and he fell to the ground, and Heinrich brought the pommel of his sword down on him, intending to just knock him out, but he didn’t know his own strength and Schuebel was dead.

You rummaged through his stuff and found the letter you had sent him, and a small wrap of something, 1G 3/-, and half a playing card. And Heinrich quickly undid Schuebel’s scabbard and offered it and the sword to Balden, which he took.

You agreed that Andrea hadn’t meant for you to kill him, but there you were. And you reasoned that (hopefully) one dead drug dealer in a mafia controlled area might not be too much to worry about. Even though you were in a bit of a panic, you decided to just walk out of there, coolly and calmly and not draw attention to yourselves, and you thought you did a pretty good job of it.

So when you got back to the guest house you went through the stuff. Frau Koester asked you how you had got on and you told her there was no job, in the end. She looked at you suspiciously and asked why you were so dishevelled, and you told her you got caught up in a snotball match between Remasweg and Noord Miragliano. She offered to make up a fifth bed on the floor of your room if you promised not to tell the taxman.

The wrap contained three bulbs of what Balden recognised as weirdroot, which was called radish on the streets. He said when chewed it was hallucinogenic, but it was addictive and usually went for about four shillings a go. You burned the incriminating note Max had written, and checked out the playing card. It was a six of swords that had been ripped in half. You didn’t have much idea of what it might be for, but kept it anyway.

It was getting late and Max was feeling his wound and so went up to bed. Balden decided he needed some protection and so went with Heinrich to the local leather worker. He fixed him up with a nice jacket for 12 shillings, which made him look a bit smarter but you could still see he was scruffy as anything underneath.

And Heinrich decided to get some leggings and some sleeves for his jacket, and did a deal with the leather worker for 16 shillings. The leather worker told him to leave his jacket and come back this time tomorrow to pick up the finished goods. And as a receipt he ripped a piece of paper and gave one half to Heinrich and put the other half with the jacket, so that you would be able to claim it. And suddenly you realised what that half of the six of swords was for.