
From the unfinished Chronicle of Barnabas Boven
By Nigel Kurst : Scribe at the Imperial Library of Atdorf.
(Author’s note: For ease of reading while I compile my notes and rough drafts I will denote the words of Barnabas within these lines) → ~ ~
I feel like I’m finally starting to get the hang of this. Every line I decipher makes the next a little bit easier. At least on the surface. Barnabas has layered the text in a way that to fully grasp the contents of one page I need to reference at least two other pages.
In my earlier notes I said I wasn’t sure if Barnabas was a madman or a genius. I have decided it must be both, no sane man would go through such great lengths to hide what he has to say.
~”The Fox” and I met with the “Master of Hounds”. A large and imposing man as was described to us. He shares my opinion of the lazy gardener. I look forward to throwing another bucket of water on the lazy man. ~
It must be nice to be a wizard. You can get away with actions like that.
~When the “Master of Hounds” left to feed his girls “The Fox” and I found the remains of a beastman in the “Master of Hounds’” bedroom closet. It was clear to me that this was food for the hounds. …. Beastman flesh. The short crazed one would like this man I think. ~
I will need to heavily edit this and many other pages before publication. The constant references to eating beastmen will cause nothing but trouble for me.
~“The Fox” didn’t handle this discovery well. His mind still reeling from the painting seemed to take a break from reality. “The Fox” decided he had seen enough and needed some down time and rushed off to the hospice. I believe his mind was struggling, but that it was also an excuse to flirt with the old female priestess of Sigmar. ~
I’ve met a few men that desired anything in a dress, but I do not believe this “Fox” character sought the attentions of an old priestess. The man surely had some standards.
~I went to the library to research some herbs I discovered in the garden. The old librarian was in the same place I had last seen him, still reading his “cook book” ~
It’s possible I translated that line incorrectly. I would think a librarian would have better things to do than to read a cook book. I must double check this line before publication.
~The musical storyteller came in and interrupted my research. At least he was up and about after his second long nap. Despite the interruption I found what I was looking for. One of the plants is used to make a potent drug. I believe this drug is the cause of everyone being so lazy here. When I have time later I will see if I can confirm my suspicions. Perhaps I could test the plant on someone… the gardener would suffice. But first I need to explain the current situation to the musical storyteller ~ (herein to be translated as “the storyteller”)
I do not pretend to truly understand the man, not yet at least, but one thing is clear. Barnabas really disliked that gardener.
~While I was briefing “The Storyteller” a female servant came in and told us dinner would be ready within the hour, he followed her out of the room chattering at her in what I assume was a friendly manner. After “The Storyteller” returned we decided the best way to administer the drug would be through food, so we proceeded to the kitchen to look for evidence. When we arrived in the kitchen we saw a man looking for a missing blunderbuss. I was baffled he thought the weapon would be in the kitchen, is everyone in this manor lazy and simple minded? I decided it would be a good idea to help the man find the weapon. Weapons don’t wander off without help, and the agents of chaos wouldn’t want such a potent weapon in our capable hands. ~
~Before we left the kitchen I noticed the whole place reeked of the drug and I decided not to eat anything at the upcoming dinner. I managed to stop “The Storyteller” from eating a potentially drugged egg, and I swear the man’s stomach rumbled in protest. ~
That’s a grand idea. I will break for the evening and have a meal.
…….
After a nice meal and some sleep I feel ready for a big day of deciphering your book Barnabas!
~In the stables we found a lazy boy sleeping in the hay. While “The Storyteller” engaged several gambling men in pointless chatter I sent the boy up the ladder to search the hay for the missing weapon. The boy wasn’t putting much effort into his search so I climbed up there to give him some magical encouragement. ~
The poor lad…
~It worked. With proper motivation the boy found the missing weapon. I claimed the weapon and returned it to its owner. “The Storyteller” accused one of the men of stealing and hiding the weapon. The man denied it but wasn’t very convincing. I took the playing cards from the men before leaving the stables and making my way to the “Master of Hounds”. He agreed to my proposal to start patrolling the manor grounds with his girls, paying special attention to the large section of collapsed wall “The Storyteller” and I discovered. ~
~I sit here in the hospice, gathering my thoughts. The rug in the library had the exact same patterns as the frame of the painting. That must mean something. I do not want to look at the painting again, so instead I will examine the rug again. “The Puff” is still wandering around taking notes on medicine from the false doctor. He claims to have an interest in becoming a doctor himself, but I think he should stick to blathering at people for me. ~
The following page contains several half finished drawings of complex geometric patterns. I surmise these are the patterns Barnabas spoke of but he didn’t finish drawing any of them. Perhaps Barnabas discovered the patterns had power too, not just the painting. It’s probably best that he did not fully reproduce the patterns. I will have to decide whether the drawings should be completely removed before publication or if I should just scribble down a few funny shapes as a replacement.
~“The Fox” seems to have recovered some of his wits and appears to be well enough to go down for dinner. He will be most disheartened when I tell him not to eat any of the food. I found “The Storyteller” to be a useful tool once he was armed with enough information. So far I have two possible agents that are good at speech craft, one possible agent that is sly and able to be in places he doesn’t belong. I have my doubts about the short crazed one. He is deadly, but so far too unpredictable to be a useful agent. A servant approaches, dinner is served. ~