3: At The Theatre

Only three characters took part in session three. The other three, Thijens, Johannes, and Hermann, slightly unhinged by recent events decided to get a bit of work down at the docks for a couple of days, as some merchant guy was a bit short on manpower for the weekend, maybe. We will discuss what you were up to and what you gained by it.

Klaus, Zombrie, and Haakon walked towards Goudberg, too tight to take a taxi. On the way you did spot a curry house, over the canal in the Indierswijk district and decided it might be a good idea to go and get a curry there sometime when you could afford it.

You got back to the Visser residence in Goudberg. After a brief discussion Haakon knocked on the front door intending to talk politely to whoever opened it. An elderly housekeeper opened the door and asked the three heroes what they wanted. Swiftly, Klaus headbutted her, dragged her into the house and slit her throat, getting his shirt covered in blood.

The three then went through the building. It was what you might expect of a doctor's residence except none of it really felt lived in. It was just too clean and neat, showing no wear or tear. The desk on the ground floor showed correspondence directed at Dr. Jozef Visser.

They went upstairs to the bedroom and Klaus swiped a comb set and some nice shirts. The size of the upstairs area led them to believe there was a hidden area on that level.

Knowing almost exactly the position of a secret door, from the previous session's adventure downstairs, Zombrie quickly found the mechanism that opened a door hidden in the bookshelf. You followed steps up to the next level where you found a laboratory that had bloodied equipment and experiments. You found a book called the Liber Nivea and a flyer for an autopsy to be held that night at the Guild of Physicians.

The Chartered Guild of Honourable Physicians of Marienburg do stage this day of Angestag 25 Brauzeit for the elucidation and education of the finest and most eminent minds of this brave and honest city, featuring the Master of his guild, the most learned bachelor of medicine, Prof. Karl Gruybaar, assisted most diligently by Doctors Jozef Visser and Gunther Flemisch, of an unfortunate citizen (as yet to be determined), a thorough and assiduous autopsy, in two parts.

With refreshments and half time entertainment.

8 Schillings on the door, concessions and O.A.P.s 6 Schillings.

Making your way to the lower level you were attacked by two guard thugs on the stairs. After making a good hit on Klaus' arm, the first thug fell over his own feet (through magical influence possibly) and down the stairs. Klaus quickly dispatched him by his favourite method and then got hit on the head
by the second thug. That really hurt and Klaus was injured. The hammer that hit him was recognised as the one Hermann threw at the necromancer last session. 

In a very cool move, Haakon threw a knife at the hammer wielder. It hit him in the right arm forcing him to drop the weapon and reel backwards. The other thug was soon finished off. The cellar area was quickly inspected, and they saw a load of animated corpses standing as if on guard.

You searched the level and found one room to be impossibly neat and tidy. So you decided to mess up some of the stuff in there, and Klaus stole some gentleman's socks. He also changed into a nice shirt coz his other one was covered in blood. You also found a scroll that Zombrie identified as magical or something.

You began to hatch a plot to burn the cellar area, by use of wood from the beds and paraffin from the laboratory. You managed to start a bit of a fire but then heard some movement above. Zombrie and Haakon ran up to see a magical looking guy running off. They gave chase, unfortunately the magical
guy fell over and Zombrie, using his new hammer got a good whack at him. The wizard ran out into the alley screaming for the watch. He then steadied himself and set fire to himself, magically. Zombrie tried to put the flames out by hitting him really hard with his hammer, and the wizard soon died.

Zombrie and Haakon carried the body back into the building, and heard someone screaming for help as they did so. Zombrie took the wizard's purse, as well, which was pretty heavy. There was something about this wizard type guy. He looked just a little bit too much like a wizard to be convincing, perhaps, or maybe he was just an apprentice trying too hard to look powerful. He was certainly very pale and had the look of death about him.

Klaus checked out the possibility of escaping through the front door, but there were a lot of people near the front of the house for some reason. It looked like the idea of burning the place down would not work and you decided to make a run for it. You could see a gang forming at one end of the alley, ringing a bell to attract others. The three ran the other way towards Streusel's Wharf and hailed a taxi. You asked the watercoachman to take you back to Kriersmuur, but halfway there, changed your minds and decided to check out the autopsy in Paleisbuurt.

You checked out the Guildhall and Haakon went in to have a look but there was still a couple of hours to go before the autopsy so the three went off to the Duke of Parravon for a couple of drinks. And sharing out the loot. Klaus really needed a pint after being hit on the head so hard, and felt much better afterwards.

You went back to the guildhall in time for the autopsy, paid your money and went in. Lots of people were there ready to watch. In a move of bravado, or strangeness, Zombrie jumped down onto the floor of the theatre and went through one of the doors. He found three doctors preparing for their autopsy. He asked to speak to Visser. Visser spoke to him and told him to go away. Knowing now, which was Visser, Zombrie did leave. He couldn't get off the floor though, and back into the seats and asked for help. A group of drunk students took the piss out of this, and out of Zombrie's religion. Eventually two ushers did help Zombrie up, and then they helped him all the way out of the building. Zombrie demanded his money back, which he eventually got, but the ushers told him if he came back to the Guildhall again they would beat him up.

The autopsy started and Klaus and Haakon watched together with about two hundred Marienburgers, some doctors and students and some morbidly curious. Professor Gruybaar, head of the guild, explained the man had been bitten on the Doodkanaal by an unknown animal while unloading a ship that just came in from the New Coast and had died of Manaan's Curse.

Sometime into the autopsy the room darkened and went suddenly pitch black. Then where the theatre should have been you saw a vision of a cellar and a girl being sacrificed (or something) by three dark robed figures. One of them threw back his hood as he slit the girls throat and laughed maniacally. He looked about two hundred years old. The two assistants struggled to push copper and glass tubing into the girls neck to hook her up to some strange contraption. Then as suddenly as it had begun the vision ended and there was deathly silence in the theatre.

Then all hell broke loose as everyone panicked and tried to leave the theatre. Amid the chaos you saw one of the physicians (who you thought might be Visser, anyway) make a swift exit out the back door and decided to follow. Haakon and Klaus chased him into the cellars below the Guildhall then lost sight of him. You heard the haunting nursery rhyme again, that you heard all those days ago on Daankkanaal and saw the ghost of the little girl beckoning you through the caverns and tunnels. You followed and she led you to a door deep under the guildhall.

You pushed open the door to see the horrifying site of Ana Zefferetti hanging from the wall with all sorts of strange apparatus attached to her body. Some equipment seemed to be feeding liquids into the body and some seemed to be drawing it off. Some of the liquids that came from the body went through a number of strange alchemical contraptions and into a glass receptacle. There was someone guarding (or looking after) Ana's half dead body who Haakon and Klaus recognised as an assistant to the very old guy in the vision. He didn't put up much of a fight and tried to get away from Haakon's flashing blade (all it did was flash a bit coz it never hit anything).

Klaus decided to save the girl. He began pulling bits of stuff out of her body. Eventually he pulled one out of her carotid artery and sprayed himself and the room with blood. She was soon dead. As she died, however, you saw an ethereal image of herself pull away from her dead corporeal form and fly
about the room. Its mad, dead eyes fixed on the guard and it tore into him drinking his life's essence (or something). You made your excuses and left.

Zombrie had just managed to work his way into the Guildhall again, against the flow of the panicking mob only to find his mates legging it out again, so he followed. You went for a few more beers at the Duke of Parravon then went back to 'The Hole'. No sooner had your head hit the pillow than you were fast asleep and you slept like babies for over a day.

You awoke on Wellentag 27th Brauzeit fully refreshed and rested, not having had the hint of a dream or nightmare. You had breakfast and learnt that Rotter had some work for you to do. You went up to the local blacksmith and all bought cheap shields.