‘Lucky’ Lugnoz reclined almost horizontally on the human-sized leather chair that supported his wiry Goblin frame. He looked out of the window of his office above the Five Aces casino, across the smoke and hubbub of the town, until his eyes came to rest upon the Gunnbad docks. He loved seeing the new merchant and passenger ship arrivals and thinking of all the suckers they contained. His reverie was interrupted by a loud knock on his door. As he was uttering a response the door opened to reveal a well-dressed, middle-aged and grey-haired human man. Lugnoz’ heart fell and his ears pricked up. It was Werner Grundfuth, the Mayor of Gunnbad, and that always meant trouble.
‘Mr Lugnoz. Thank you for seeing me at such short notice. But it’s been a while since we had a proper conversation.’
‘Seems like whenever we talkz I az to pay summat.’
‘I’m wounded. Gunnbad is a business town and I, as you well know, am its foremost businessman. You and I both have the same interest at heart: profit. And speaking of which, I am reliably informed that your most recent sporting venture has been making an absolute pile of it.’
Lugnoz scowled at Grundfuth and tried to turn that reaction into his best poker face. The Mayor was not wrong; just over half a million Gold Crowns were currently sitting in the Gunnbad Juniors’ DBL account.
‘The team’s doin’ well, the stadium’s full, the fans iz spending plenty of money in town. Everybody’s happy.’
‘Not everybody, Lugnoz.’
The Goblin suddenly jumped up onto his plush seat and pointed a finger at Grundfuth.
‘Now listen mate, if you’ve come here to strong arm a cut out of me, we both knows you’s a regglar at the Five Aces Gentulmans Lounge, and-’
Grundufth coughed loudly to interrupt the Gobin.
‘No, Lucky I have not come here to strong arm you. And I am not looking for a handout. But we do have a small problem and we need to find a way to avoid becoming victims of your success.’
The Goblin looked suspiciously at Grundfuth, but the human’s reasoned tone caused Lugnoz to reluctantly sink back into his seat.
‘Go on den, you’ve got me attenshun.’
‘After the exploits of the Gamblers, and now the Juniors, people are really taking notice of Gunnbad. And unfortunately, not just those people you and I would call ‘potential customers’, no, I mean people like the Inquisitors of Sigmar, the Order Of the Fiery Heart, and other zealots who don’t have the same enlightened approach to the presence of greenskins in an Empire town. Now of course I don’t want people like that here, but they say the name of Gunnbad is cropping up a little too often in the corridors of Altdorf.’
‘Alrite, youz made your point. So what do we do?’
'We turn adversity into opportunity. Next season, Gunnbad will have a Blood Bowl team that really emphasises the humanity of the town, if you catch my drift. And because we’ve always been friends, I’m going to give you the chance to be one of the major investors.’
‘How much?’
‘Let’s say a quarter of a million crowns, for a quarter of the team.’
Lugnoz laughed.
‘I dun have that kind of money, mate!’
Grundfuth smiled.
‘Well, I hope you can find it, Lucky. I think this might be a very lucrative opportunity, and definitely better than the alternative. I’ll leave you to think about it.’
He stood, doffed his silk cap in farewell, and left as quickly as he had arrived.
Lugnoz laid back in his over-sized seat once more. The Humans were always trying to clip his wings. Well, the money was no issue, and maybe if he was a legitimate shareholder of the town’s official Blood Bowl team they wouldn’t be able to come after the profits. He shouted out to the offices beyond his door.
‘Grugnak, bring me the Juniors' accounts! We need to find a way to lose a few hundred thousand Gold pronto!’