by Warhammer
Gotrek sheared through the chain with one swipe of his axe and pushed the gate open. In the yard, still soupy with mud from the recent rain, Louis Lanquin and Henrik Daschke were busily saddling and bridling a pair of horses and throwing heavy-laden saddle bags over their rumps. A pack mule was already loaded with satchels and trunks. They looked up at the noise of the gate and froze as they saw Felix and the Slayer sloshing towards them.
Henrik backed to his horse, scrabbling blindly for the reins with one hand and his sword with the other. ‘Ride,’ he said. ‘Now. The dwarf is a maniac. We must not face him.’
Lanquin smiled. ‘And we won’t.’ He drew a pair of heavy pistols from his saddle holsters and aimed them at Gotrek and Felix. ‘You should have taken my gold, dwarf. You might have died as a Slayer should.’
Gotrek sneered. ‘By poison gas? That is not a Slayer’s death.’
Lanquin’s cool amusement faltered as Gotrek kept walking towards him, undaunted. Henrik clutched the innkeeper’s shoulder.
‘Come on! Let’s fly!’
Lanquin shook him off. ‘I have more saddlebags to pack.’ He thumbed back the hammers on the guns. ‘Stand where you are, curse you!’
‘A loaded gun is no threat to those who are ready to die,’ growled Gotrek.
Felix wanted to remind him that some present were not quite ready to die, but at that moment Lanquin turned both guns on the Slayer.
‘Then I shall unload them,’ he said.
Gotrek hurled his axe as the Bretonnian squeezed the triggers. The axe hit first, smashing into Lanquin’s shoulder, and the pistols went off at wide angles as he crashed to the mud, screaming in pain. Felix ran forward to kick the pistols from Lanquin’s hands, but Henrik leapt in his way, slashing with his sword. Felix parried the blow, then raised Karaghul to riposte.
‘Hold, manling,’ said Gotrek.
Felix held, on guard, and glanced back at him. ‘You want me to spare him? After all he’s done?’
‘Agnar Arvastsson swore that this betrayer would die by his axe. It would not be fitting to let a Slayer’s last oath go unfulfilled.’ Gotrek pulled Agnar’s long axe from his back and stood before Henrik.
‘Step aside, manling.’
‘You’re going to kill me in cold blood?’ squealed the rememberer. ‘That’s murder.’
‘You have your sword. Defend yourself,’ said Gotrek.
Henrik stepped back, shaking.
‘Defend myself? Against you? That’s still murder! You know I can’t win!’
‘You should have thought of that before you betrayed the oath you took to your Slayer,’ said Gotrek. ‘Now fight.’
‘No listen, Slayer,’ whined Henrik. ‘I was wrong, I know that. But you don’t know–’
He stabbed for Gotrek’s throat with his sword, trying to take him by surprise. The Slayer was too quick. He knocked the thrust aside with such force that the blade snapped, then buried his axe in Henrik’s chest.
Henrik coughed blood all over Gotrek’s hands as his body went rigid, then his head slumped forward and he sagged to his knees in the mud.
Felix heard splashing behind him as Gotrek pulled Agnar’s axe free, and turned to see Lanquin staggering for the back gate, his left arm red to the wrist from Gotrek’s axe cut, which had laid him open to the bone. Felix leapt after him and put himself between the Bretonnian and escape.
Lanquin held up his hands.
‘Please, I beg you,’ he sobbed. ‘I only want to leave. Take my gold, all of it!’
‘Why would we let you go when we killed Henrik?’ asked Felix. ‘You’re the worst of the lot. You colluded with the skaven to kill the dwarfs. You sent men who had sworn loyalty to you to their deaths. You tried to have us killed in the street.’
‘Yes, but what will you get if you kill me?’ It was a cold day, but the sweat was pouring from Lanquin’s brow like a river. ‘Only what I have here. Spare me and I’ll tell you where I have more. You may have it all. All my wealth!’
Gotrek retrieved his axe from where it had fallen in the mud, then stepped up to Lanquin and cleaned it on his fancy cape before sheathing it on his back beside Agnar’s.
Lanquin swallowed, hope kindling in his terrified eyes. ‘You – you’re not going to kill me?’
‘You don’t deserve a quick death, innkeep,’ rumbled the Slayer, then turned towards the stables. ‘Hold him while I fetch some rope, manling. We’ll leave him for the thane.’
Lanquin whined and complained, but a minute later they had tied him to a hitching post and were examining the contents of the saddle bags and trunks as he wept quietly behind them. There was a fortune of gold coins in the satchels, and a treasure trove of jewel-studded crowns, armour and weapons that looked like they had been worn by dwarf kings and princes in the mule’s packs and trunks, items far too fine for the thane to have ever allowed to be taken from the hold.
‘Hmmm,’ said Felix, looking at a jewelled comb that might have bought a townhouse in Altdorf. ‘Take the relics back to Thorgrin and keep the coin?’
Gotrek grunted. ‘It’s more than the brigand deserves, but who wants to lug all that around? Maybe just… this.’
He took a sturdy gold bracelet and slipped it around his wrist, then sealed the saddlebags and slung them over his shoulder. Felix shouldered the other set and grunted to his feet under its weight. He gave Lanquin a sly salute, then led the pack mule out of the stable after Gotrek – where they came face to face with Thane Thorgrin, Sergeant Holdborn, and a phalanx of dwarf constables. A rough crowd of mercenaries and treasure hunters had gathered behind the dwarfs to see what had brought the thane of Skalf’s Keep to the stinking streets of Deadgate.
Thorgrin bowed politely as he looked past them into the yard. ‘It seems we owe you another debt, Slayer. You have detained the villain who masterminded this whole false war.’ He nodded to the saddlebags and the pack mule. ‘And I see that you have already chosen your reward. Very good. For all that you have done, you deserve it.’
Gotrek just glared at him, so Felix bowed for the both of them. ‘Thank you, thane. And we have also–’
‘There is the small matter of the tax, however,’ said Thorgrin, speaking over him. ‘As you know, all treasures taken within the confines of Karak Azgal are subject to a ten per cent tax, and if they are of particular historical significance to the hold they may not be taken at–’
‘You mealy-mouthed thief!’ snarled Gotrek. ‘We were bringing it back to you! Here. We don’t want it!’
He took the reins of the mule from Felix and handed them to Thorgrin.
‘It’s all yours.’
The thane stared as the dwarf constables took down and opened the trunks and revealed the great treasures within, then turned back to Gotrek and Felix and bowed again. ‘The return of such important relics is a fine and noble gesture, heroes, and I am humbled by it, but, may I ask, what do you carry in the other saddlebags?’
The veins in Gotrek’s neck were throbbing, and his face was turning a dangerous red. Felix stepped ahead of him, speaking quickly.
‘It is nothing from Karak Azgal. We took it from Lanquin. Gold coins. His profits from the Grail, I would guess.’
‘No doubt,’ said Thorgrin. ‘And you are welcome to it, b-but–’ He stuttered as Gotrek fixed him with his blazing single eye, then continued. ‘But, you seem to be under a misapprehension about the boundaries of Karak Azgal. It is not just the deeps, but also Skalf’s Keep and Deadgate. The tax applies to treasures found here as well. If you would allow us to count–’
Gotrek exploded. ‘You cheap chiseller! I came here to seek my doom, not to hunt treasure.’ He ripped open the saddlebags, then snatched Felix’s from his shoulder and did the same to them. ‘If you want your ten per cent, take it.’
And with that he hurled the open saddlebags over the heads of the thane and the constables and into the crowd. The gold coins flew everywhere, and the mob immediately cried out and dropped to their knees to scrabble in the mud for them.
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As the constables strode into the confusion, bellowing for everyone to stop, Gotrek picked up the trunks carrying the ancient crowns and axes and armour and threw them too, spilling the ‘important relics’ into the muck, to the horror of Thorgrin, but the wild delight of the crowd.
Felix laughed as the thane sputtered and gaped. It was worth the loss of the gold to see the look on his face.
‘Slayer!’ Thorgrin cried. ‘This is an outrage! You have deprived the council of its rightful–’
Gotrek pulled Agnar’s axe off his back, and the thane stepped backwards, wary.
‘Will you attack me now?’ he cried. ‘What do you want?’
Gotrek slashed down with the axe and planted its blade in the mud at Thorgrin’s feet. ‘I want you to bury that with the body of Slayer Agnar Arvastsson, the only dwarf or man I met in this cesspit who wasn’t a thief.’
The Slayer turned away from the stricken thane and started for the town gate.
‘Come on, manling. This place stinks.’
A GOTREK & FELIX GAZETTEER
A
Adelbert Wissen
Ward captain of the Neuestadt, in Nuln. He is handsome, always immaculate, and obviously of noble descent. Felix takes an immediate dislike to him.
Adolphus Krieger
A vampire. He was one of von Carstein’s most trusted minions but vanished after the battle of Hel Fenn and von Carstein’s defeat, only to resurface in Praag centuries later. Tall, dark and thin, he speaks with a noticeably foreign accent. He will also stop at nothing to get his hands on the Eye of Khemri, a deceptively powerful artefact.
Aethenir Whiteleaf
An elven scholar sent to Marienburg to look for a book that has been stolen from the library of White Tower of Hoeth. The book contains maps of the lost elf settlements in the Wastelands at the mouth of the Reik, on the northern coast of the Empire. As chance would have it, Aethenir’s mission seems to coincide with Max and Claudia’s expedition to investigate magical disturbances in the same area. His prim elven ways do not endear him to his travelling companions, particularly the crew of the Pride of Skintstaad.
Agnar Arvastsson
A Slayer who Gotrek & Felix meet on their trip to Karak Azgal to seek the White Widow. Agnar is old and grizzled, with three red-dyed crests and a braided beard. His adventuring companion is the rememberer Henrik Daschke.
Alberich
Prior of the Schrammel monastery.
Albericht Kruger
The Mutant Master. He was a mild-mannered mage who attended Altdorf University at the same time as Felix Jaeger but he has now become corrupted by the Dark Arts he practises.
Albion
Reputedly a land of perpetual rain and mists, very little else is actually known about it, mainly because it has always been surrounded by spells of great potency intended to ward it from the eye of outsiders.
Aldred Keppler
Known as ‘Fellblade’, a knight of the Order of the Fiery Heart. He journeyed to Karag Eight Peaks to retrieve the blade Karaghul.
Aldreth
One of the oldest servants of Teclis and his brother.
Altdorf
Greatest city in the Old World, Capital of the Empire, and seat of the Emperor Karl Franz II.
Ambrosio Vento
A Tilean merchant in possession of a magic amulet, coveted by the skaven.
Annabella Jaeger
Otto Jaeger’s Bretonnian wife.
Ansgar Ernot
A hedge wizard who comes to a nasty end in a protracted bar brawl in Middenheim.
Anya Nitikin
A Kislevite woman, author of Call of the South, said to be one of the finest writers in the Empire. She is taking her younger sister Talia to the Kingdom of the Dragon searching for a cure for her out-of-control behaviour.
Arag
A strong drink made from anise, found in exotic lands far to the south of the Empire.
Arek Daemonclaw
A formidable Chaos Warrior who has succeeded in uniting the four different factions of the Dark Powers to march down from the Chaos Wastes and lay siege to Praag. He is superstrong, superfast and near invulnerable.
Argrin Crownforger
A dwarf Slayer who Gotrek & Felix meet while hunting for the missing Order of the Fiery Heart. He has a braided crest, and a beard like an orange haystack. He has a square, lumpy face and missing two fingers on his right hand.
Avelein
Wife of Graf Reiklander, she is beautiful, but carries a sadness in her eyes.
Aver Isle
A small island in the middle of the River Aver, at Nuln. It is here that the Engineering School test their devices, so as not to risk injuring innocent bystanders.
Axe of the Runemasters
Also known as the Axe of Valek. An ancient artefact of immense power, previously wielded only by the High Runemasters of Karag Dum.
B
Baldurach
A member of the Council of Truthsayers in Albion.
Banner of Baldemar
Sacred banner of the Order of the Fiery Heart, made from the cloak of the knight who founded the order.
Barak Varr
‘Torrent Gate’, the dwarf port lying on the mouth of Blood River. Being not only a lowland fortress but a haven for ocean-going vessels, more traditional dwarfs consider the locals a little touched.
Bardolf von Veldrecht
Steward of Castle Reikland.
Barren Hills
‘Felix thought they could not have been more aptly named. The land stretched out in an endless sea of low, mist-swathed ridges, many with dead winter grass, and leafless thorn bushes, and bare of trees but for an occasional wind-bent pine hunched upon a rocky crest…’
From Shamanslayer, by Nathan Long
Baulholz
An Empire town situated about five days’ travel south of Fort Stangenschlosse.
Bear’s Milk
A strong alcoholic beverage popular with the knights of the Black Bear Order. It consists of fermented bears’ milk mixed with vodka.
Belegar
Nominal ruler of Karag Eight Peaks, he led the expedition to reclaim the lost stronghold.
Belryeth Elvendawn
A distressed elf maiden who begs Aethenir’s help in recovering a lost ‘family heirloom’. However, her story is merely a ruse to co-opt the elf scholar into obtaining a special book for her.
Big Nod
A halfling ‘trader’ who plies his trade in the docks of Nuln. The epithet is, of course, entirely ironic.
Birgi
A dwarf slave aboard a dark elf black ark, and father of Farnir.
Birrisson
A dwarf engineer, based in Karak Hirn. He was obsessed with gyrocopters, and had a lab where he could tinker with his creations, linked to the main body of the hold by a secret passage.
Bjorni Bjornsson
Bjorni is a squat, muscular, repulsively ugly dwarf with a gruesome collection of warts on his face and a particularly huge and hairy one right on the end of his nose. He is crude, lewd and tells some exceptionally tall tales about his sexual conquests, though admittedly he does enjoy surprising success with women, a fact which never ceases to amaze Felix Jaeger. He is first encountered by Ulrika at Karak Kadrin and introduces himself by propositioning her. Though she rejects him, he joins the party on their quest anyway and is one of the seven Slayers who go to confront the dragon Skjalandir in its lair.
Black Ark
Monstrous floating island-fortresses employed by the dark elves to travel over the seas of the Old World. Each is a self-contained military unit, boasting a full complement of troops, slaves, beasts and associated vessels.
Black Coach
Unmarked coach that travels the Bögenhafen road on Geheimnisnacht, said to be driven by daemons.
Black water
A volatile, malodorous liquid that can be used to power dwarf gyrocopters.
Black Water, the
A vast lake located in the Worlds Edge M
ountains, south of Zhufbar. It was formed when a meteor hit the earth in the far distant past. In the dwarf language, it is known as Varn Drazh.
Blind Alley
A disreputable tavern in Barak Varr.
Blind Pig, The
A tavern on Commerce Street, Nuln, owned by Heinz. Gotrek and Felix were employed as bouncers and it is here that the gutter runners stage their daring attack.
Blood-gold
A rare type of gold, much coveted by dwarfs.
Blutdorf
A small and particularly squalid village located between Fredericksburg and Nuln.
Blutdorf Keep
Rundown castle overlooking Blutdorf, inhabited by the wizard Albericht Kruger.
Boneripper
Thanquol obtains a succession of unfortunate rat-ogre bodyguards from Clan Moulder, at great cost. Finally, he has a mechanical version constructed by a warlock-engineer, but even this proves unreliable.
Books
Possession of certain dangerous books is forbidden in the Empire; even to know their names can invoke censure from the authorities, notably the Templars of Sigmar, more commonly known as the witch hunters.
Borek the Scholar
Also known as Borek Forkbeard because he has a huge forked beard which reaches all the way to the floor before being looped back up into his belt.
He is the ancient dwarf scholar who organises an expedition to the Chaos Wastes to try and find the lost citadel of Karag Dum. It was Borek and his brother Vareg, who brought the last message from Karag Dum before it was swallowed by the Wastes, and though he tried to return at the time, the first mission failed and he was one of only three survivors.
Bounty Bay
Location where the combined fleets of Estalia finally defeated Redhand’s pirate fleet. Redhand is believed to have escaped.
Bran Mac Kerog
The bear-like chieftain of the mountain men of Carn Mallog whose main passion seems to be greed.
Brocht
Huge circular stone tower.
Broken Pickaxe, The
Inn situated in the small town of Gelt. Gotrek, Felix and their party stay there en route to the Dragon Mountain.
Brotherhood of the Cleansing Flame
