My dearest Gertrude,
Twenty-five years ago my father turned to the worship of the foul Gods of Chaos. It was I who discovered this and when I did I fled and told my tale to the Elector, Count Ludwig. I travelled with his army as we hunted my father across the land all the way to the final battle of Schaeffenburg where we defeated his pitiful band of cultists and scattered the survivors. We then marched on his lair, a temple to Chaos in the heart of the forest that surrounds our town. The temple was ruined and the guardian, a minotaur, was slain by myself and eight companions: Friederich Kramer; Hans Niederthaler; Fritz Gruber; Martin Gorman; Thyrus Jaeger; Dagmar Feldman; Felix Arburg and Kerwen Grunwald. The nine of us found the Heart of the temple ~ an orb as black as the night ~ and tried to destroy it. We could not harm it with our weapons, nor even with the dread weapons we had taken from our fallen enemies. Eventually we thought to cast it into the depths of the chasm the minotaur’s death had opened in the earth, but as we moved to lift it the thing spoke. It spoke in a quiet voice that sang like the finest music inside our heads. It promised us that if we spared it, it would repay us by ensuring no harm would ever come to us, nor to the ones we loved. It promised it would stop my father, whom it named The Fatechanger, from seeking his inevitable revenge against Rikkenburg. To my eternal shame, we listened to its soft words, its persuasive tongue. We accepted its bargain and swore oaths, both to it and upon it, in the language of Magick.
Upon returning to Rikkenburg we saw the first sign of the bargain. The Shrine of Morr was sealed, and none in the town could remember it being any different ~ only the nine of us were free of this illusion. We took this as a good sign; in our victorious arrogance we took it to mean that almighty Morr no longer held any dominion over us.
For ten years the bargain seemed true, and we were content. We suffered neither illness nor death, and our loved ones were similarly blessed. Then your mother gave birth to the abomination and was drowned by the accursed Van Hal. I thought then that the bargain had been broken by the dæmon of the orb by allowing your mother to suffer and die.
Now, at this time I was friendly with the wizard known in the Empire as Red Trachtenberg, although being arabyan his real name is Abdallah al-Niyharlat, and he counselled me that we should travel back to the temple and put a final end to this thing. I wished to be accompanied by those same companions as had been with me when the bargain had been struck, but Abdallah warned me that they could not be trusted to wish the bargain unmade, since they had not suffered the loss I had. The two of us journeyed together, and came to the Heart of the temple ~ unchanged since last I had seen it. I moved forwards to seize it, to cast it into the chasm, but I could not cross to the far side. It followed that we were unable to approach it from any direction, prevented by some evil spell. Abdallah attempted to counter its magic with his own, but no enchantment or conjuration could he make work. At last he grew angry and cast sorcerous fire at the orb, but the thing was unaffected until my friend collapsed, drained of his power. It was only then that the dæmon spoke to me. It calmly asked me why I wished to break the bargain, and when I insisted that it had done so already, it laughed. It knew what I had denied to myself and spoke it to me: that I no longer loved your mother and so she was no longer protected. It laughed at my folly and bade me come and visit it again. As I picked up Abdallah and stole away I knew it was mocking the loneliness it had left me with. Our journey to the temple had been untroubled by incident, but not our return. No sooner had we left the clearing we were beset by a warrior, clad in fearful armour. I disposed of it and carried on. Abdallah soon recovered enough to walk on his own and together we fought our way through the beastmen that beset us continually until we reached the town.

My tale of the past is now done, so now I must write of the present. This time I know the dæmon has proved false, for you were hurt by the beastmen that attacked your coach, and my love for you cannot be doubted. And then it was discovered that we had lost our beloved Silas to madness, evil and death; my lover was put to the question by Van Hal; and I have just learned my friend Fritz has lost his niece at the hands of the treacherous doctor Fleicher. Let the orb deny these truths: doing so will not save it from my wrath this time.
By happy fortune, my friend Abdallah has recently returned to the town. I have just met with him and requested that he not accompany us, for two reasons: firstly since his magics were of so little help the last time; and secondly so that you may have some protection should I fail. The fact that you are reading this letter means that I have failed in my quest. It most certainly means the bargain lies in ruins and you are no longer safe. My father is close by and waits for his chance at revenge. You are the baroness now, thus you will be his target. Go to Abdallah. He will use all of his power to protect you until the Elector comes. I have dispatched my fastest messenger to Averheim to bring word to Count Marius. He knows of the deadly danger my father brings to our land and will come in force. I pray he comes in time.

I, Baron Oswald von Rikken, Count of the County of Rikkenburg, do solemnly swear by all that is good and holy, by Sigmar’s Hammer, by Ulric and Taal, by Morr and especially by Shallya Goddess of Mercy, that what I have written is the whole truth as it is known to me on this date, the 32nd day of Nachexen in the year of Our Lord Sigmar twenty-five hundred and five.

Pray for my soul, my daughter, I am lost

Oswald von Rikken

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