"Beware, little mortal. I have already told you more than is perhaps wise for either of us. Still, you interest me, and it has been too long since I met any mortal who has done that. I believe the last mortal I enjoyed such stimulating conversation with was the great Leonardo da Miragliano."
- —Khemalla of Lahmia to Zavant Konniger.[2]
Zavant Konniger, the sage-investigator of Altdorf
Zavant Konniger, known as the "sage-investigator," is one of the Empire's finest investigators, with a wealth of scholarly knowledge, and a quick and deductive mind.[1a][2a]
His involvement with courtly intrigues in royal Gisoreux; his Tilean adventures and interventions in the vendetta-disputes of feuding merchant princes; the investigations and field expeditions that took him to places as far afield as Kislev in the cold north to the deserts and oases of Araby in the far south are just some of his incredible deeds.[2]
His network of connections stretching from the palace to the underworld ensures efficient results. He is a strange sight: there is something vaguely barbaric about the style of his long white hair, though in his domed forehead and hawk-like nose he carries the bearing of the professor emeritus he once was. He is often accompanied by his Halfling assistant, Vido. Konniger derides Vido's practical and unlettered approach to problem solving, though he benefits from the Halfling's assistance more than he likes to admit.[1a]
Once a member of the Cult of Sigmar, Konniger's open-mindedness and scepticism led to his dismissal from its ranks. Whilst he was not convicted of heresy, he was labelled "theologically suspect," and his relationship with the cult has become unclear. On one hand, it does not wish to be publicly associated with him, nor is it willing to reliably fund his research and investigations. On the other hand, it does recognise his expertise, and surreptitiously employs him through proxies in order to investigate matters of concern. For his part, Konniger is a loyal, if unorthodox, Sigmarite. He does not begrudge the cult his assistance, though he treats most priests with withering intellectual disdain. A public reconciliation between Konniger and the cult is a long way off.[1a]
Notable Cases[]
Closed Cases[]
During his long career, Zavant Konniger has solved an impressive amount of cases around the Old World and even in the Land of the Dead. Some examples are: the affair of the Stirland Vampire, the mystery of the Dwarf Engineer's thumb, the case of the Verezzo naval treaty,[2] the Case of the Screaming Statuary in Trantio,[3] and the case of the Tilean widow.[2]
Open Cases[]
A recently arrived Estalian traveller is found dead at his boarding house without a mark on his body. The Watch are baffled, but members of Altdorf's criminal class suggest that a man called Cicuta from Miragliano has recently been boasting about his skills with poison. Cicuta is still at large, but how can someone who kills without trace be tried for murder? The case is now in the hands of the sage-investigator.[1a]
Other Cases[]
"The Affair of the Araby Exhibit", "The Case of the Tsarina’s Pearls" and the equally intriguing incidents surrounding "The Puzzle of the Norscan Pirate".[2a]
Quotes[]
"Being a short discourse on the considerable and regrettable misconceptions and falsehoods attending to the deeds and reputation of the subject of this biography, as ruminated on by your humble author.
In any serious discussion concerning the study of the lore of the heretical and forbidden, no true student of the field can ever fail at some point to mention the work of Zavant Konniger, the famed and self-styled ”sage-detective” of Altdorf. While there are many - particularly amongst the clergy of the Church of Sigmar and the members of the Altdorf Colleges of Magic - that would strongly challenge some of Konniger’s most contentious findings and theories, there can be no disagreement that texts such as Principia Chaotica: A Treatise on the Dark Powers and Out of Araby: A Most Hazardous Field Investigation of the Tomb Cities of Khemri are still amongst the most exhaustive and authoritative accounts we have of the ways and natures of some of mankind’s greatest and most terrible foes.
Considering the amount of knowledge amassed by Konniger and the debt all later opponents of the hidden and malefic owe to his researches, it is frustrating indeed that so little is known about the man himself. Certainly, his name is still remembered the length and breadth of the Old World, but all too often the details of the recollections of the man and his deeds are confused and fragmentary. Indeed, in several backward provinces of the Empire and beyond, it is popularly believed that tales of the legendary sage-detective and his adventures are wholly fictitious!
Regretfully, the work of other supposed chroniclers of Konniger’s life and times have muddied the waters for any subsequent serious scholarly investigation of the man and his deeds, and when undertaking such a momentous task, one must first work hard to separate fact from fiction. Almost certainly, the stories of Konniger’s confrontation with fiends such as Mannfred von Carstein or his apprehension of ”Springheeled Jacques”, the fabled (and utterly fictitious, as my researches have proven) ghostly killer from the back-alleys of Gisoreux, can be safely labelled as tavern tales fit only to be believed by foolish drunkards.
But what then are we to make of other tales of Konniger and his exploits? Did he truly, as he himself claims in his written account of the expedition, travel to and explore the dark mysteries of the tomb cities of the Land of the Dead?
Or what of his records of his explorations of the Under-Empire? Even today, prominent figures in this rarefied field of study of ours still hotly contest the existence of the depraved rat-things known in certain quarters as ”skaven”. What then are we to make of the map fragments - apparently drawn and annotated in Konniger’s own distinctive hand - showing what purports to be an extensive and completely unknown labyrinth of tunnels and underways honeycombing the earth beneath our beloved Empire? Could Konniger have entered and at least partially, mapped such a place, which he termed the ”Under-Empire”, a name which has now come into common currency amongst those of us involved in such arcane matters? Some scholars dismiss Konniger’s Under-Empire theory as further proof that he did indeed succumb to a form of creeping madness in his latter years, brought on - as several of his many critics, notably those within the Holy Church would attest - by his ill-advised and heretical dabbling in the ways of the Dark Powers. Perhaps, though, such objections are born out of fear and of a state of wilful ignorance in defiance of the uncomfortable and unwelcome fact that this world and our place in it may be far less secure than we would ever wish them to be.
On a lighter note, it is also my happy duty as biographer to dispel some of the common misconceptions about Konniger, not merely those such as the scurrilous falsehoods detailed in The Private Life of the Great Sage-Detective of Altdorf, As Recounted by his Faithful Manservant and Companion (a tawdry Moot-published pamphlet; the less said about it, the better) but also those partial truths which somehow seem to have become part of the Konniger legend. For example, it is sometimes popularly believed that Konniger travelled for some time in the company of that most fearsome of dwarf slayers, Gotrek Gurnisson. My wise and astute readers will, of course, immediately recognise that such legends have confused Konniger with the person of Felix Jaeger, a minor poet of the same era who is known to have served as the trollslayer’s companion for quite some time. It should be known, however, that in my continuing researches for this work, I have lately turned up intriguing information that suggests that Konniger may indeed have once crossed paths with the illustrious trollslayer and his human companion.
Alas, the truth of this possible encounter awaits full verification, and I beg my readers’ patience and indulgence in the hope that the details of this intriguing and hitherto unknown incident may form part of the narrative of one of the later volumes of this work.
With so many truths, half-truths, lies and foolish legends concerning Konniger in circulation, it can be bewildering to know exactly what to truly believe. Madman or genius? Heretic or the greatest mind of his age? Foolish amateur dilettante or noble and foremost opponent of the enemies of mankind?
The truth, good reader, is to be found herein
from Konniger, the Enigma of Altdorf,
by Dominik van Graal (Nuln University Press, in the Year of Lord Sigmar, 2604)"
- —Zavant by Dominik van Graal (Nuln University Press, 2604 IC)[2]
Sources[]
- 1: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition: Altdorf Crown of the Empire (RPG)
- 1a: pg. 102
- 2: The Incomplete
- 2a: "Buried Secrets"
ZAVANT KonnigerZavant (Novel) by Gordon Rennie
- 3: The Case of the Scarlet Cell (Novel) by Gordon Rennie