Captain's Log: 27th of Vorgeheim, 2513.
I don't know where Harbull and Petra are so I'm going to have to ask you to write this entry down for me... you already are? We're starting now? Right, thank you The One.
After Frau Kenner!
Our morale was boosted by the chance to not only win the Chancellor's support but also gain further insight into the conspiracy. If we could figure out who was blackmailing Sparsam, perhaps we'd be able to help Ar-Ulric with his similar predicament. Sometimes I wonder how in Heldenhammer's name Chaos cult schemes can be so well planned and orderly? Then I remember what would be the result. The sickening realm of tyranny and mutation that would appear, shrieking and all-consuming. Anyway, no more day dreaming... day nightmaring? Regardless, I rid my mind of these fears and we agreed to continue our pursuit. Werner had befriended that incredibly powerful dwarf fellow. The one with the bulging veins, that appeared to be near the point of bursting with every step. He had tried to offer Werner some outlawed "medicine" to fill his body with strength. Sigmar would disapprove of attempting to emulate his form with no hard work or virtue, I imagine. Werner, our righteous marine, refused but did learn of the location of The Pit. The Pit where Frau Kenner would hopefully reside. We held our weapons and coin purses close as we ventured inside.
It was a hideous place. A ramshackle tavern with scum on the walls and, erm, scum on the seats. Thank the heavens most of them were senseless from the drugs. I haven't seen things so sluggish and ugly since we were under that observatory. A gruff tavern keeper, bald, burly and missing his right eye, asked us what we wanted. Couldn't get an answer about Frau Kenner right away and he continued to ask about drinks. I answered him with five gold crowns. His eye bulged so much that I swore that the other would somehow grow back and emerge from the socket. We took a seat and was given the finest. The finest smelled and tasted like skunk piss. We started talking about Frau Kenner and he still wouldn't give us all the damn information. Bloody hell, five coins was usually enough! Two more did the trick, and we were brought upstairs to meet "Bruno".
Bruno was a strange fellow. Patches of powder on the face, a blue streak through the hair, tattered finery and a manner that gave the impression that he thought this was all a dream. He clearly dabbled in what he sold. Absolute fool. That's like gauging the efficiency of a sword by stabbing yourself! I refused to speak with the man and let Werner handle the talking. We reached an agreement: We would not hinder his business and would simply stop Frau Kenner's blackmailing scheme. In return, he wanted seventy gold crowns for revealing her real name. I thought this was a bit much, which I feel says a lot. Brought it down to fifty in the end, thankfully. The girl beside him kept batting eyelashes and Werner and myself. She was Bretonnian, I guessed from the accent, and looked barely nineteen years old. That age, in this place. That's horrible. We got the name Brunhilda Klaglick and were told that she would be here tomorrow to collect Sparsam's drugs. Excellent. I asked the girl if she knew a Charlotte but she didn't know any in Middenheim. It was admittedly a long shot but I had to try it.
We needed to somehow pass the time and make sure it didn't involve getting smashed. An opera, The Nibbleungenlied Part 1, had nearly began according to the schedule. We decided that the theatre was our best option and that we could speak with any Law Lords if they appeared. Proving to them the faults of the new tax laws was key to our quest. We could not let Chaos slip through the cracks of petty politics. The opera was about six or so hours in length. It had no breaks but you could easily slip out during the boring bits and have a drink. From what I understood, the plot was that some hero fought a dragon over a magic ring and some sort of cake recipe. The dragon had a Bretonnian accent and was what I assumed to be some sort of joke at the expense of their fondness for fancy desserts. It was all very peculiar. The hero argued with a dwarf over the ring, people murdered each other and warrior maidens sang about it. Good stuff overall. Better than the other nonsense. Two of the Law Lords were in the audience, so we snuck out after Wasmeier as soon as there was a lull.
Karl-Heinz Wasmeier was a very kind and understanding man. I thought as a Law Lord he would be a bit more cold and callous but I was thankfully wrong. We introduced ourselves and he was delighted to meet Werner after our marine had battled in the arena. Soon the conversation turned to that old familiar tune of asking about the taxes. He agreed that the taxes were harsh but if they were explained better to the citizens of Middenheim, there would be no problem. I asked him to explain it to me. Wasmeier unfortunately told a fair few fibs regarding the viability of these taxes and the wealth of the dwarfs, wizards, and the rest. It wasn't intentional, I believe he was just misinformed. The One soon put a stop to this and explained the Chaos plot, how it involved the merchants, and that Gotthard Goebbels was recently arrested as a heretic. The Law Lord was terribly shocked and assured us that he would speak to the other Law Lords right away about this. Good man. I hope that's enough to make them all reconsider.
The next morning we decided to follow Brunhilda until we had the perfect chance to interrogate her. This was the second last day of the festival so you can imagine the sea of colourful clothes and giddy folk we had to wade through. Jugglers, acrobats and jesters, and even a Smyte and Mutie show. Smyte and Mutie is a childhood favourite of mine. I saw a travelling entertainer perform it when I was very young. It's two puppets: the ugly and fearsome witch hunter Smyte and her husband Mutie. Smyte would find out that Mutie has a hideous mutation and would beat him repeatedly with a hammer. Children adore their antics. At the end of the show, the Mutie puppet is set on fire and thrown on the ground as a good reminder to what happens to heretics and mutants. We hired street urchins as early as we could to never lose track of her. It worked like a charm. Actually, along the way we saw Harbull and Petra through the window of a high class restaurant. They were having a good laugh inside, thankfully. We followed Brunhilda from The Pit to a nearby tavern and finally into the streets of Middenheim. It was dark at this point and time to act.
Werner and I grabbed her by each arm and The One touched her with a sleeping charm. Her head fell and she drifted off into a slumber... for about a second before waking up and yelling. Damn! The spell was weaved again. Head went down. Head went up. Then finally down. We brought her into an alley as quickly as possible. She struggled like mad as soon as she woke up, and tried to bite Werner's hand. I thwacked her with the pommel of my dagger and she was properly unconscious then. We made sure she would be quiet and told her to give us her employer's name and to stop all this blackmail shite with Sparsam. She twitched and began to choke. Her eyes darted frantically and she started to shake uncontrollably. Thankfully it was not a mutation. Just withdrawal taking its toll. She needed her medicine. I needed information. We had a good transaction on our hands. We got a name.
Natasha Sinnlich.
We let her go and gave her the drug. She stumbled happily into the night. I have heard that Sinnlich was evil and I'm surprised that I didn't suspect Chaos earlier. Werner spoke to Kirsten Jung privately after that. She has agreed to help us stop Natasha and her wicked plan.
We need to get the news to Sparsam. Then we can expose Sinnlich and her blackmailing. I really hope that she isn't working for someone else. I think I'm getting tired of following people around.
- Johann Dasbuut.
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