Contents

Cover

Foul Play – Extract

A Black Library Publication

eBook license

Foul Play

by Andy Hall

There was a knock at the door. The thief stopped rooting through the owner’s breeks drawer and waited, hoping the visitor would go away. Why had they come to the house anyway? Didn’t everyone know that Gerald Frost-thumbs would be at work? The CabalVision weatherman was a ratings hit with his mid-day weather forecasts. Of course, it helped being a weather-mage, if you could not only predict the weather but ensure it happened that way too, but the viewers didn’t seem to mind.

The knock came again, louder than the first one. The thief tip-toed down the stairs of the empty house in time to see the door rock in its frame. It visibly lurched once more as a third burst of knocks came even louder; someone was losing patience. The thief approached the door – he now knew who was knocking. The bosses had come to visit. His hand hovered over the latch.

‘Are you in dere, Sulk?’ spoke a deep, cruel voice from the other side of the door.

‘Yes,’ replied the thief.

‘Den open up.’

He hesitated and thought about running… Turning around, sprinting into the back room and out of the window he’d jimmied open to gain ingress in the first place. He thought about it, but didn’t.

‘Open up,’ said the voice from beyond, threat creeping into its tone. Sulk lifted the latch and opened the door to see two ogres in ill-fitting suits and shades. One, the closest, had his arm half-risen.

‘Took yoo long enough,’ the ogre said. ‘I wuz about to remove the zoggin’ thing off itz hinges. Right, let’z go see yer handywork.’ The ogres barged through, forcing Sulk against the wall. He closed the door and followed after a couple of recuperating breaths. He wasn’t looking forward to the next few minutes. The Kobassi Brothers were not just any old gangsters: they were the gangsters, running the toughest firm in Altdorf. This job – the one they’d seemingly come to personally inspect – was low-level. He was in the midst of stealing some incriminating evidence the gangsters could then use against Mr Frost-Thumbs for leverage.

‘Found anyfing yet?’ asked one of the Kobassis.

‘Not yet, I was in the middle of looking when you knocked–’

‘Checked the undies drawer? They always keep the real kooky stuff hidden in their smalls.’

‘I have, nothing’s come up yet…’ answered Sulk. He was wary. Coming here, now, during the robbery, was close to the ogres getting their hands dirty. And these days, the Kobassis only got their hands dirty when dealing with ‘grasserz’. They despised gobby gits, tattlers, informers and stoolies more than anything else. Sulk knew this all too well. He’d not worked for the Kobassis that long since leaving the Marauders, but had already witnessed what the brothers did to anyone who talked to the Watch. It had involved a barrel and troll vomit; lots and lots of troll vomit…

Sulk couldn’t help thinking that someone must have set him up. Another enforcer perhaps, jealous of how quickly he had come to the attention of the brothers since leaving the leagues? Bald Shrew had it in for him, he knew that.

‘Alright,’ said a Kobassi nonchalantly. The ogre picked up the jimmy bar Sulk had carelessly left on the dining room table after gaining entry. Sulk prepared to plead his innocence, even though he knew it would do him no good. If the brothers were here it was because they’d already made up their minds he was guilty.

‘Wrap this up. We got another job for ya. One more pressin’ dan dis.’

Confused, Sulk continued to stare, waiting for the other boot to drop, waiting for the iron bar to be used on him.

‘Let’z talk about Blood Bowl,’ said the other Kobassi.

The thief was confused by the sudden change of subject. ‘What about it?’ he asked.

‘Well, you used to play da game, didn’t ya? Or was we not correctly informed?’ A low growl came into the ogre’s voice, the barest whisper of threat.

‘No, you’re right, I did. I was with the Marauders, a lineman – before injury forced me out and I had to look for other… er… career opportunities.’

‘The Marauders, didn’t they have trouble wiv dere mascot recently? Lost a goat, or was it swiped? Wot was itz name?’

‘Janet,’ said Sulk. ‘Janet the goat. They were going to kill it, because someone on FaceTome started a rumour that it was a beastman in disguise. Well, not even in disguise, just a gor on all fours.’

One of the Kobassis broke into a rare smile.

‘Anyway, yoo left the humie team, and here you are,’ said the Kobassi. ‘Yoo’ll do.’

‘I’m not sure what this is about... still.’

‘Then yoo better keep up, ’cos the only thing I dislike more than grasserz iz repeating meself. Dere’s a match on in two days’ time at the Oldbowl. The Gouged Eye are playin’ the Dwarf Giants. The Eye are out of form. Expectation iz da stunties’ll win it easy–’

Sulk tried to stifle out a laugh that broke the ogre’s flow. He gave Sulk a deathly stare.

‘Sorry,’ said Sulk. ‘It’s just the Giants are all short, bearded psychos, more interested in testing out their latest weaponry on the field than actually playing Blood Bowl. And they despise greenskins. They’ll win alright and then some. I feel bad for the sorry git stuck ref’ing that game.’

‘Da only fing I dislike more than grasserz and repeating meself is being interrupted...’ growled the Kobassi. Sulk gestured respectfully that the ogre should continue. ‘Everyone expects the dwarfs are goin’ to win. So we’ve gone and put a massive bet on the Gouged Eye beatin’ ’em.’

Both ogres smiled at each other, clearly pleased with a cunning plan that didn’t actually seem that cunning. Sulk suddenly felt he should have run instead of answering the door. He saw himself as a mouse by a trap, knowing he shouldn’t eat the cheese, but strangely compelled to do it all the same.

‘But what happens if the Giants win? Like everybody thinks they will.’

‘Then we’d lose a ton of money, and a lot of status, and our enemies would swoop in. They’ve already started betting against us. But if our flutter pays off, well, we’re gonna be stronger than ever. Dat’s why yoo’re gonna ensure the stunties don’t win.’

‘Me?’

‘You.’

‘How?’

‘We got loads of minions and enforcers on our staff... but only one that used to play Blood Bowl. Dat’s yoo. We gonna put you in zebra togs and yoo’ll be da ref for da match. We got contacts in da NAF. Dey’ll have yoo sworn in and match-ready in no time.’

‘But-but I was a player, not a ref.’

‘It’z close enough. I gotta say, you’re sounding awfully reluctant about dis opportunity. Fink about it as a promotion,’ said one Kobassi.

‘Fink about what happens if you say no,’ said the other Kobassi.

‘Well, I’ve always wanted to blow one of them whistles,’ said Sulk with mock enthusiasm.

‘Dat’s better. Right, we got places to be. Seems news of our wager is spreadin’ already. Dere’s a few chancers betting the other way. Bless ’em. We’re off to see some bookies, make sure da odds stay in our favour. And I’m starvin’. Hungry game dis business!’ The Kobassi gently but firmly gave Sulk a ‘friendly’ slap on the cheeks with a mighty ham-sized hand and headed out of the weather-mage’s house.

‘We’ll be in touch,’ said his brother as he bent to get back through the front door. Then he turned to face Sulk. ‘Just throw some stuff on the floor and smash a few plates. Make it look like a botched robbery, The Watch have promised us they won’t come investigating for another hour or two.’

Sulk was left on his own in the big empty house. He tapped his pocket to check that the small book of suggestive images he had found in the sock drawer was still there. If the Kobassis didn’t want to blackmail Gerald Frost-thumbs, it was something he could do freelance, once all this Blood Bowl malarkey was over.

‘At least they didn’t punish me for being a grass,’ mused Sulk aloud, which was mildly fortunate, because he was. In fact, he was the worse type of grass going.

Click here to buy Foul Play.

A Black Library Publication

First published in Great Britain in 2017 by Black Library, Games Workshop Ltd, Willow Road, Nottingham, NG7 2WS, UK.

Produced by Games Workshop in Nottingham.
Cover illustration by Wayne England.

Foul Play © Copyright Games Workshop Limited 2017. Foul Play, GW, Games Workshop, Black Library, Blood Bowl, Warhammer, Warhammer Age of Sigmar, Stormcast Eternals, and all associated logos, illustrations, images, names, creatures, races, vehicles, locations, weapons, characters, and the distinctive likenesses thereof, are either ® or TM, and/or © Games Workshop Limited, variably registered around the world.
All Rights Reserved.

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN: 978-1-78572-635-4

This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

See Black Library on the internet at
blacklibrary.com

Find out more about Games Workshop’s world of Warhammer and the Warhammer 40,000 universe at
games-workshop.com

eBook license

This license is made between:

Games Workshop Limited t/a Black Library, Willow Road, Lenton, Nottingham, NG7 2WS, United Kingdom (“Black Library”); and

(2) the purchaser of an e-book product from Black Library website (“You/you/Your/your”)

(jointly, “the parties”)

These are the terms and conditions that apply when you purchase an e-book (“e-book”) from Black Library. The parties agree that in consideration of the fee paid by you, Black Library grants you a license to use the e-book on the following terms:

* 1. Black Library grants to you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, royalty-free license to use the e-book in the following ways:

o 1.1 to store the e-book on any number of electronic devices and/or storage media (including, by way of example only, personal computers, e-book readers, mobile phones, portable hard drives, USB flash drives, CDs or DVDs) which are personally owned by you;

o 1.2 to access the e-book using an appropriate electronic device and/or through any appropriate storage media; and

* 2. For the avoidance of doubt, you are ONLY licensed to use the e-book as described in paragraph 1 above. You may NOT use or store the e-book in any other way. If you do, Black Library shall be entitled to terminate this license.

* 3. Further to the general restriction at paragraph 2, Black Library shall be entitled to terminate this license in the event that you use or store the e-book (or any part of it) in any way not expressly licensed. This includes (but is by no means limited to) the following circumstances:

o 3.1 you provide the e-book to any company, individual or other legal person who does not possess a license to use or store it;

o 3.2 you make the e-book available on bit-torrent sites, or are otherwise complicit in ‘seeding’ or sharing the e-book with any company, individual or other legal person who does not possess a license to use or store it;

o 3.3 you print and distribute hard copies of the e-book to any company, individual or other legal person who does not possess a license to use or store it;

o 3.4 you attempt to reverse engineer, bypass, alter, amend, remove or otherwise make any change to any copy protection technology which may be applied to the e-book.

* 4. By purchasing an e-book, you agree for the purposes of the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 that Black Library may commence the service (of provision of the e-book to you) prior to your ordinary cancellation period coming to an end, and that by purchasing an e-book, your cancellation rights shall end immediately upon receipt of the e-book.

* 5. You acknowledge that all copyright, trademark and other intellectual property rights in the e-book are, shall remain, the sole property of Black Library.

* 6. On termination of this license, howsoever effected, you shall immediately and permanently delete all copies of the e-book from your computers and storage media, and shall destroy all hard copies of the e-book which you have derived from the e-book.

* 7. Black Library shall be entitled to amend these terms and conditions from time to time by written notice to you.

* 8. These terms and conditions shall be governed by English law, and shall be subject only to the jurisdiction of the Courts in England and Wales.

* 9. If any part of this license is illegal, or becomes illegal as a result of any change in the law, then that part shall be deleted, and replaced with wording that is as close to the original meaning as possible without being illegal.

* 10. Any failure by Black Library to exercise its rights under this license for whatever reason shall not be in any way deemed to be a waiver of its rights, and in particular, Black Library reserves the right at all times to terminate this license in the event that you breach clause 2 or clause 3.