Badboy

Remember
Amnesia: The Dark Descent
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by
Mikael Hedberg
illustrations by
Rasmus Gunnarsson & Jonas Steinick
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House of Gerich

Altstadt has never seen much crime, but there was a dark period
spanning from the early winter of 1702 until late summer of 1704.
During these years no less than 39 men were arrested and locked up
in castle Brennenburg’s dungeons. In most cases thecriminal’s family
would be banished from the land, effectively cutting the already
dwindling population of Altstadt with 86 souls. The magistrate’s
office has almost no records detailing these crimes, as most arrests
were handled by an unknown nobleman named Wilhelm.
Klaas Gottschall
University of Königsberg
The magistrate shuffled through the documents on his
desk. Every now and then he wouldfind something, adjust his
glasses, and try to decipher the century old handwriting.
“I don’t know what to tell you, Herr Gottschall…”
“Please, call me Klaas.”
“Herr Klaas, there doesn’t seem to be much there.”
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“I’m aware.”
The magister leaned back in his chair waiting for an
explanation. Klaas reached into his bag and produced a thick
book and placed it on the desk.
“Are you familiarwith Heritage by Ludwig Kleist?”
The magister feared a longwinded lecture from the
historian sitting across the desk.
“Does it matter?” he answered, realizing how rude it must
have come off. Klaas looked confused.
“Can I get you a drink?” continued the magister, hoping
he could redeem himself. He quickly got up and headed over
to a cabinet and fetched two glasses and bottle of liquor.
“Thankyou – it’s just that Herr Kleist has done the most
thorough investigation into the fate of the House of Gerich,”
explained Klaas.
“Who?” The magister began to pour the spirits.
“Wilhelm, the vigilant, was from the House of Gerich.”
“Ah, of course,” said the magister, still confused.
“I want to pick up where he left off.”
“I see – where exactly would that be?
“The book doesn’t reallyreveal what happened to
Wilhelm. It only briefly touches on a few of the cases he
worked on during his time in Altstadt. I want to try to find out
what happened to him.”
They both raised their glasses and nodded in a silent
cheers.
“Fair enough – what can the magistrate’s office help you
with?”
“Two things. I would like to know if there is anything
which supports the claim that Wilhelm wasworking for the
Baron of Brennenburg in order to quell the rise of crime.
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Wilhelm remained unknown by most and Kleist argues that he
might have been working for the Baron to gain influence in
higher circles.”
“Well, that I can tell you, by simply looking at the wall.”
The magister stood up and gestured towards a wall of framed
documents.
“These are all the proclamations issued by theBrennenburg barony since…” The magister went in for a
closer look at the document to the far left. “… since 1599 and
none of them mentions such a partnership.”
Klaas studied the handful of framed documents for a
moment.
“Excuse me, but it doesn’t really prove that there was no
deal, rather that the barony have been a quiet lot.”
“Not quiet – private. If there ever was such a deal, themagistrate´s office wouldn’t know. My point being, I can not
help you.”
“That’s a shame.”
“You could ask for an audience with Baron Alexander.”
“I have, but haven’t heard back.”
Lost in thought, Klaas walked over to the window and
looked outside. He watched the people on the town square go
about their daily life. This is how he preferred to observe the
world, from behind a protective window pane.“What was the other thing?” asked the magister.
“Excuse me?”
“Before, you said there were two things you wanted help
with.”
“I need the documents concerning the fire.”

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Klaas stepped outside into the square. He took a deep
breath, trying to control his discomfort. His eyes jumped
across the scene, the laughing young women carrying bags of
flour to the bakery, the boy bringing out...