28th Ulriczeit 2511 (Early morning onwards): Make haste; Ubersreik bound
Gele’s priority was to get the boat moving as quickly as possible. She was half-mumbling to herself as she worked through the sequence of events. Then she jumped to action, barking at Salundra and Gunnar to cut the grapple line and use the long boat hooks to try to free the prow from the bank. Ferdinand was told to move the badly wounded Felix to Gele’s quarters. Everyone snapped to their jobs, even Janna, unperturbed by the blood on the deck and the blood covering Gunnar, tried to help.
They freed the boat and it began to move downstream again, the flow of the Teufel bringing it towards Ubersreik. They all agreed that it was the best place to get treatment for Felix’s wounds, but they also recognised that it was a dangerous place to be, especially for Salundra and Janna.
The going wasn’t fast, but Gele reckoned that if they didn’t stop they could be in the city in the early hours. The party discussed the best course of action, while Gunnar washed himself down with some buckets of clean water. It was decided that when they arrived in the city, he’d stay on the Deft Dancer with Janna and Salundra and Ferdinand, in disguise, would fetch Dr. Edgar Lichtmann. He was a night owl, so they believed they’d find him at the Watch Barracks in the Precinct. Specifically, he should be in the mortuary built into the basement of the Barracks. They knew this was all going to be risky. The chance of being spotted was always there. It was also hard to know who to trust; who was on Rikard Fischer’s payroll or being coerced to feed him information. Either way, they agreed they’d dwell in Ubersreik just long enough to see that Felix got some medical attention.
The party did what they could to ensure the crew and Janna were cared for. They prepared food, adjusted sails when so ordered and when Gele looked like she needed a break Salundra took over steering the boat for a while. Ferdinand tended to Felix, but there was little he could do other than to keep him warm and check for fever. It wasn’t ideal to leave the bolts in place, but he feared what would happen should he try to remove them.
29th Ulriczeit 2511: Is there a doctor in the house?; Candlelit operation; visitors; an invitation
Janna slept and Gele caught some shut eye when Salundra guided the boat, but no one else rested. Yasmina would not leave Felix’s side and the others were all too high strung to rest.
They approached Ubersreik in the early hours, Gele deftly guiding the boat to a mooring on the north side of the river, not far to the west of the northern end of the Teubrücke. Also not far from the Barracks and where the doctor should be. They put the plan into action. The conspicuous looking Gunnar stayed hidden in the focsle with Janna, while Salundra and Ferdinand, wearing long hooded cloaks, made their way cautiously to the Barracks.
They walked past the front of the building, down the ramp to the mortuary. There were lights coming from inside and they made their way in. They caught Dr. Lichtmann unawares and he hastily slide something he’d been leaning over into a desk drawer. He was surprised to see them, but surmised they needed his help. He wasn’t fully cogent, however. He guessed it was the dwarf who needed help and he was happy enough to help following the promise of coin. He enquired as to the nature of the injury, then gathered his bag and some additional supplies.
The doctor stumbled as they climbed the steps beside the ramp out of the basement. Salundra slipped an arm under his and supported him as though he’d had one too many. For all she knew, he had. They kept an eye out and had the uncanny feeling they were being followed, but that may be paranoia. Who would be around at this late hour to see them. They arrived to the boat and they guided him to the captain’s quarters.
Lichtmann raised an eyebrow when he say the boy lying on the ground. “Not the dwarf, I see”, he said as he knelt to examine the boy. He murmured as he surveyed the wounds. “The right looks straightforward enough, but the left…. the left may be tricky”, he said to Ferdinand, intuiting that he had been caring for Felix.
“Get me more light and some clean water”, was the last thing he said before he began to work on the right shoulder. It took time, but once he’d removed the bolt and cleaned the wound to his satisfaction, he pointed to his bag and asked for a small glass bottle. Ferdinand fished it out, and was then asked to grab the small tinder box. Lichtmann poured the blackpowder into the wound and sparked it, a flash illuminating the room as he cauterised the area. “That’ll scar”, he mused as he bandaged the area.
He spent more time on the right. Being careful to examine and clean, then examine and clean. He pointed out something to Ferdinand, “He’s lucky, but not very lucky. You see there”, he said pointing more closely at a visible bone. “The bolt missed major arteries, but it chipped the bone. We’ll need to find the fragments”, he said, circling his finger over an almond-shaped void in the bone. Patiently he looked for the missing bone fragments, handing each to Ferdinand to be accounted for. Ferdinand carefully reassembled them, trying to picture the jigsaw coming together.
Yasmina was transfixed and unmoving for the entire operation. Salundra and Gele wanted to help, but there was nothing to do.
“What do you think?”, Lichtmann asked. “I think we have it all”, was Ferdinand’s response. With that the doctor repeated the process with the blackpowder and bandaged the wound. “Keep it clean and keep an eye, and nose,out for infection”, were his only instructions as he packed up.
Salundra handed him two gold crowns. His eyes widened. “For discretion and the possible need to call on you again”, she said. He nodded and made his way off the boat.
The were all tired and reasoned that the most prudent thing they could do now was to sleep. Gunnar maintained a watch and it wasn’t long before the docks had the initial signs of the early morning activity one would expect.
Ferdinand was kept a close eye on Felix, checking for a temperature and any sign of infection. He thought there was something off about the left arm wound, so he and Salundra went to fetch the doctor, reasoning that he could be found at Ma Rugger’s hostel. The drunk by the front door, a permanent fixture of the establishment, didn’t look up as they neared. Ma Rugger, who never seems to miss anything going on in her establishment, guessed they were there for the doctor and she fetched him.
His return visit to the boat confirmed Ferdinand’s suspicion and Lichtmann treated the infection, giving instruction to Ferdinand on what to do to try to keep the wound clean. They were battling for Felix’s arm. Lichtmann refused further payment and went on his way.
They had two more visitors, Eugen (twice) and Franz. Eugen’s friends had spotted the boat and let join know it had returned. He came with a most welcome piece of news, Franz had proposed to his mother and they were due to be married the day after tomorrow. He ran back to the Red Moon Inn and returned about an hour later with some food and some much welcomed drink.
Franz came in the early afternoon. He explained that while it wasn’t long since Marlyn lost her husband, he reckoned that she and her family needed a man in their lives and he, now in his mid-40s, hadn’t found an opportunity to have family, so it just made sense. He also relayed another strange piece of news… they were to leave Ubersreik once the wedding had happened. His brother, who had been tending to the family farm just outside Altdorf, had gone missing. Word only arrived a couple of days ago. Franz was going to the Bridge Inn to make arrangements for their transport by coach. What of the Red Moon Inn? He’d made arrangements for Om and Nom to extend their business to the Inn. They’d been looking for an opportunity to get in on the lucrative docker food trade, believing (probably rightly!) that their pies would go down a treat. Franz extended an invitation to all to attend the wedding and took his leave. A wedding wasn’t exactly keeping a low profile, so the party would have to figure out what to do.
Felix, thankfully, started to show more signs of life. He was sipping water and was slowly coming to his senses.
Until next time,
Owen