Chapter twelve.
the catacombs of Rome
In which our heroes plumbed the depths of adventure!
Dramatis Personae:
Katerina, Grafin (Countess) von Ulmfeld from Bavaria
Ruprecht , Ritter von Schlan, of the Austro-Hungarian Diplomatic Corps
Rittmeister (Captain)Maximilian von Ström, of the Austro-Hungarian Lancers
Louis LeBrun - A French Inventor
Frau Elsa Berg - An Austrian Nursing Sister of the Order of Cassandra
Captain Kenneth Campbell, of the British Black Watch regiment
Karl Bergman - An Austrian Explorer & student of Esoteric Orientalism
An excerpt from the diary of Katerina, Countess von Ulmfeld.
November 1871
“Well, the Lord doth, indeed, work in mysterious ways and who would have thought it of a Cardinal? We have been requested by His Holiness’s envoy to find compromising materials elating to an affair, including a notebook of assignations, a Dageurotype, and a family seal ring.
Upon visiting the house used for these nefarious purposes, we found a parchment with these words upon it:
‘Your eyes, nose and ears will be warned
But you may fall before the axe.
From the points to the Flames of Hell
you may drown before the mill.
You must enter the deep and rise to stop whilst moving on
and the triple Guardians will hold the last key.’
Most Curious, we thought.
Investigating the house in detail, Max happened on a route down into the catacombs. So, taking our lanterns (not to mention our lives, as it turned out) in hand, off we went.
I will not details the full extent of the Adventures we experienced under the highways of Rome but suffice it to say without the clues afforded s by the enigmatic poem, all would have been lost: Dreadful sights, smells and noises greeted us before we had gone a hundred yards; an axe swooped out from nowhere; Deadly spikes arose to impale us; fire; rising water forced us to swim for our very lives; the floor moved backwards as we made our way towards the doors; and those could only be opened by using a hidden lock!
At the end of such tortures, we finally arrived in a very cosy and Private room where we were rewarded by the discovery of the Illicit Articles. Karl also found a very interesting, old (Egyptian, I think) manuscript, which he borrowed.
Still, far be it from me to disparage the Holy Roman Church - especially as His Holiness himself rewarded my efforts with a Papal Insignia which may, I am sure, come in very useful if I am ever so foolish again as to do something which Otto (what a sweet dear he is) requests.”
The Ritter von Schlan did not take part in this adventure directly due to his leg wound from Sicily. When the others had returned, he visited the Cardinal and gave him the documents and picture. The other members of our company questioned why they hadn’t kept the items themselves in order to blackmail the Cardinal into giving up his brother, the Count di Rigatorri. The Ritter remained silent on the subject.
Post-Script:
Captain Campbell had to return to Paris in order to finally fight the duel against Baron de Remartinont (see chapters eight and nine) - He was mortally shot but was rushed to Templars who saved his life using powerful magick - now he owed them a BIG favour.
Host’s notes:
This Chapter ran in Winter 1998.
Time for a good old-fashioned dungeon crawl. A little homage to D&D in CF.
Ruprecht, Ritter von Schlan, is known as “Otto” to his friends (It is his middle name).
Worthy of High Merit: The whole party for exemplary teamwork and actually using the props given to them for once ;)
No comments:
Post a Comment