3. Origins of the Vampyre (cont)

Game III – The Origin of the Vampyre [continued]

22nd April, 2019.

Act I

Scene i: Country road, Morava Valleys.

Having sent a raven out into the night to search the lands for their missing companions (Friedrich & Logan), the malformed Johann slipped away from the army wagons to emerge beside Janos. Stating his concerns over the fate of the other pair, the whiskered Gangrel contemplated what choices were left them, now that the coterie was divided between those with local knowledge (Janos & Johann) and the foreign kindred whom had so far acted like babes lost in the woods.

With time to wait whilst the bird surveyed the high hills and valleys, the Nosferatu asked if they might practice their pugilism (brawling), in the wild style of the Gangrel packs. Crouching to all fours, Janos sprinted into the tree-line to lure his inquisitive pupil, pouncing from some unseen angle to wrestle an advantage, releasing Johann to try and outpace him in the tangled gloom of the winter forests. The lessons continued for an hour or more until both wearied of the combat, taking a position high in the valley to look down on the pine fringed road and tiny camp-lights of the Austrian army, all under the silver silhouette of a waxing moon sunk behind the eastern-most mountains.

Conversation returned to the topic of Logan and Friedrich, debating if they should remain with the convoy or return north to locate them before more trouble ensued. Alighting on a bough above their heads, the raven warbled its return, tapping the branch and skipping along its length as it communicated by mimicry. Janos confirmed that the bird was telling them it had found the others, riding now on horseback ahead of some pursuing hunter.

Once the message was understood the two Cainites left the valley heights to chase their lost coterie mates, following the gliding form of the raven as it called to them in the night. Remaining unseen within the overgrown woods alongside the roads, they ran like wolves with the scent of their next meal luring them over the fallen leaves.

* * *

Meanwhile, as descried by the raven, Logan and the Doctor were under threat from a pallid horse and its fur cloaked rider, whom had relentlessly driven them on without closing the distance until now; the white mare was drifting closer, biting the wind as it gained on them by galloping intervals.

Looking back at the rider, Friedrich realized it was the trapper from the inn whom had warned him to leave nights ago. The beast he rode upon was also familiar, a spectre that had followed them since Petrovaradin. Concentrating his gaze into the back orbs of the mare’s eyes, the Tremere cried out in command that the animal pause its flight, his words fading into the walls of tree and mountain without effect.

Gritting his teeth between curses aimed at their own horse to stay ahead as he twisted the reigns, Logan asked the doctor if he had any other plans, as his next move would be to dismount and fight back. Answering in the negative, there was no resistance as Logan held the doc with one hand, loosening the reigns with the other to allow enough slack to keep the horse in control. In one motion he kicked his heel over the saddle, slipping his boots from the stirrups to land on the road and plant the startled Tremere beside himself, the horse braking in the mud as its head turned back under a tethering force.

Holding the road with his bayonet held ‘dart’ fashion, Logan waited for the clash whilst Friedrich climbed into the hidden fronds of a gnarled pine tree, peeking out onto the scene as their foe careened out of the darkness. Extending a pair of katzbalger (arming sword) like death unfurling its wings, the trapper seemed poised to launch from his mount when a sudden object pierced his breast, revealed to be the bayonet. Both rider and horse lost gravity as a voice cried out unseen (Friedrich), causing the white animal to trip in the muddy pass and lose the advantage. Shaken from the white mare’s back to fall ungracefully, the trapper only had one remaining katzbalger in hand, raised in offence as he closed in on the Englishman.

Logan was trapped between the hind kicks of the mare and slashing arcs of his opponent’s sword, hooves grazing his ribs as he fought to extricate himself from either menace until something fell from the trees to grip the pale horse. It was Friedrich, whose agility landed him on the upper shoulders of the animal in time to drive a pair of scalpels into its equine eyes. With a scream that shattered the frigid air of the arboreal valleys, the mare threw Friedrich into the mud before wrestling its way blindly into the forests, branches snapping in its panicked flight.

Now able to concentrate on the remaining foe, Logan circled to find an opening in the other’s guard, flicking the thin tip of his court sword until it caught the heart and brought the man to his knees. The lust for violence was too strong to sway the Englishman from preserving the other’s unlife, beheading him with a heavy stroke as Friedrich lamented there was no chance now to interrogate the trapper and learn the reasons for the pursuit so far.

Examining the corpse of the trapper allowed the doctor to confirm he had been a Cainite, spreading the body over a cleaner piece of ground to open the thorax. This was the first opportunity Friedrich had of handling a deceased kindred away from the strictures of the Camarilla’s law, using the limited time to take important notes. The most obvious lesson came when he tasted the trapper’s vitae, which was more potent than human blood. He had also been taught by Dietmar how to read ‘the past’ in another’s blood, a secret discipline of their mutual clan. Visions of fire, scenes of many miscreants in rapture as they drank from a golden chalice flashed in his mind before the sight faded.

Taken up the pair of arming swords and donning the fur coat of the beheaded trapper, Logan urged the doctor to hurry in his task. Waving away the Englishman’s concern the Tremere replied that he was almost finished, closing his satchel (now holding the Cainite head) before arranging the innards and limbs into a grizzly warning for any others on their trail. Climbing back behind the saddle occupied by Logan, the doctor smiled contently as he admired the crude face he had left in the dirt and snow, a laughing face of red offal and skin.

* * *

Having heard the splitting scream of a horse chill the night, Johann and Janos feared that it would be the mount of their lost coterie mates being butchered by unknown forces that had pursued them. With this new urgency in reaching them the pair ran unseen along the roads until coming upon a lone horse with two riders, galloping from the north toward them.

Recognizing Logan and the doctor, they made themselves known by stepping from the forest’s umbra to stand on the path. Drawing the reigns to bring their caramel horse to stand, the candidates from Vienna were reunited again, the English Cainite greeting them with a broad grin and new coat.

Angered with the conduct of the doctor in flirting with the masquerade, Johann wrapped his overgrown claws around Friedrich’s ankle to yank him down into the road slop and sit on his chest, questioning his dangerous actions when they had specific duties to fulfil for the Viennese Court. Remaining smoothly polite after the fall, Friedrich shrugged off the threats, explaining that (in his mind) he had not caused too much upset.

The local kindred (Janos & Johann) were upset though, especially when they heard Logan recount the deadly clash hours earlier, hinting that the doc’s bulging satchel contained the head of the stories’ villain, the only identifiable remains left after Friedrich had left a ‘message’. Scowling at the fool Tremere initially, Johann listened as Logan countered that the warning had been necessary at the time, and what was left of the body would burn into dust once dawn came. At least now Johann was certain the Sabbat were aware of their journey, confirmed by examining the severed trophy for ‘pack’ scars made by burning brands.

Act II

Scene i: Arrival in Medvega.

Two nights later the Viennese Coterie entered the western slopes of Morava, the canyons bending with the minor tributary river, the ‘West Morava’. Roadside shrines to St Christopher and other ikons warded the roads, hinting at the strict religious observance of the local villagers in contrast with the loose morals of northern Europe.

From the ruins of a fort on the ridge, Janos and the other Cainites looked over the ethereal fog vales of Medvega, the locale from which the reports of Vampirism had alerted the Austrian army to investigate any infectious outbreaks amongst the villages. Descending from their perch over the sleeping landscape, they arrived at a divided road, at which there was still evidence of the military convoy’s passing. The main contingent of wagons and horses had continued along an eastern road toward open farmland, other tracks in much smaller numbers had left them to go west to the village near the river.

Logan confirmed that it was typical army behaviour; the senior staff and officers would be hosted in the guest house or the burgermeister’s own residence.

* * *

The roads of Medvega were empty of any inhabitant except a stray dog that cowered and ran back into a sheltering lane, slivers of light coming from the shuttered windows of a few domiciles and the guest house itself near the main thoroughfare. Johann urged Logan and Friedrich to continue and speak with the physicians if they so wished, he would explore the cemetery outside the village. Ever fascinated by the mysteries of death, Friedrich thought aloud if he too should join the Nosferatu, the suggestion ignored by the other kindred whom reminded him that he would be necessary to speak with the army physicians now that he had revealed himself to their knowledge.

Agreeing that his purpose was better suited to discern what Glaser and Fluckinger had learnt of the vukodluk outbreak, he parted ways in the company of Logan to walk toward the subdued voices of the Austrian officers reverberating from the Guest House. Johann and Janos watched the foreign Caintites pounding the door for entrance before they vanished into the unlit avenues leading out of the village.

Scene ii: Medvega Cemetery.

On a low hill skirting the village was a chapel and graveyard, white washed wooden crucifixes row upon row that were now only silhouettes in the night. Arriving like the unseen wind, Johann loped closer to the earthen mounds outside the fenced holy ground, the recent burials of heretics whose bodies had been removed from the church grounds and staked with long hafts that emerged many feet from the graves. Noting the markings and names on some of the poles, the Nosferatu puzzled over the variety of ages and genders in the hopes of finding any common cause.

Continuing into the official cemetery, further signs of disturbance were evident. Some were recent burials of older graves, dating as far back as three to five years. Two had been left open, a younger and older woman named Milosova and Ruzica, the latter having an older date on her cross. Ruminating on the strange events around the scene, Johann paused to listen to a droning prayer commencing from the distant chapel, thin edges of lamp light escaping its closed windows.

Peering through a gap in the weathered boards, he could spy two covered bodies on a large table, illuminated by oil lamps at either end. The arrangement was being attended by a bear like man with a tangled thick beard, whose prayers were in the Eastern Orthodox manner of Greek.

Eager to get a glimpse of what was under the covering on the table, the Nosferatu waited for human nature to bring the man out from the chapel, using the opportunity to slip through the half open door. Lifting a corner of the fabric veil revealed his suspicions that they were a pair of corpses, one sagging with rot whilst the other remained uncorrupted by the earth. Folding the cover back into place before the priest returned, he assumed a hiding place on the opposing side of the table from where the man knelt to resume his prayers.

However, the burly man did not immediately speak; he had sensed something unnatural within the chapel, as though he were no longer alone. Calling for the unseen presence to identify itself, after minutes of silence he pondered aloud if it were the ghost of Milosova.

Scene iii: Imperial Guest House.

Within the Guest House, Friedrich and Logan had joined Herr Glaser in discussion over the case and their progress so far. Costumed in the plague mask and gloves that alleviated his rare ‘skin condition’, Friedrich had driven away the rest of the officers and physicians to the far end of the table, where they drank nearer the hearth. Glaser was the only exception, listening to the other gentlemen’s theories on disease and anatomy.

As for the investigation so far, Fluckinger had met with the burgermeister and village representatives to gather a list of the ‘accused’ deceased, whilst Gypsies were being summoned from the local roads to help dig up the graves and other manual labour necessary for the physician’s study. With only a day or more so far, no real cause had been determined, except for the curious fact that they were all known friends and relatives of a man whom had died three years before: Arnold Paole the hadjuk (Hadjuks were a local militia who fought against the Turks etc).

There had also been local resistance to the grave openings; the local priest, father Miklos, had been vocally against the requests of the army, as he believed that the outbreak was wholly supernatural and had to be dealt with according to the customs for breaking a vampire’s curse. Angered by the reference to this priest, Logan offered to find him and help convince the holy man to refrain from interfering in the use of science to determine the true cause.

Pleased with the company of the two Englishmen, and their advice (Logan had earlier suggested the contagion might be spread by cattle, since animals had also been linked between the first case and the recent deaths), Glaser excused himself to retire for the evening, asking them to seek accommodation at the abandoned water mill outside the village. He assured them that the area would not be disturbed, as the local serfs believed it to be haunted by ghosts. Taking their own leave at the hint, the two kindred bid the officers adieu before departing the fire-lit parlour for the midnight lanes of the village.

Act III

Scene i: The Chapel.

Wary of the priest Glaser had mentioned, Logan asked Friedrich how they could surreptitiously remove him if he were to become a nuisance as they trod the road toward the graveyard. A lone voice was speaking in the chapel as they approached, both slowly coming to recognize the words as some kind of prayer. Their initial plans had been to meet with Johann in the area, but like moths to the flame they came to wait outside the rustic church, making final plans to deal with the priest until a sudden silence unnerved them, followed by a strong accent that called out to them as though there were no walls to obscure them from his sight.

The priest had some kind of benign grace that seemed to calm and repel their nerves, addressing them as demons like the recent wandering dead that had terrified the living. Inviting both to join him in the chapel, he returned to his place of observance over the covered corpses as Logan knelt by his right side. Friedrich, masked and cloaked to hide his disdain at the backward superstitions, hesitated until he internally reasoned that to resist the priest would cause too much trouble now that Logan had seemingly joined in his prayer.

After these orthodox rites, Logan and Friedrich had many questions for the priest, introducing themselves as ‘wolves sent to chase away the other wolves’ that cursed Medvega. Father Miklos spoke of cattle sucked dry of blood, a waning disease of men and women that drained their life, and yet they would return after their funerals to sit and speak with relatives. He had already made arrangements to visit a peasant the following night to hold vigil and wait for his deceased son to return, as he had been visited already for the previous three nights. Interested in seeing this ‘vukodluk’ with their own eyes, Logan and Friedrich agreed to join Father M at the appointed time.

The doctor (Friedrich) had ignored most of the priest’s flowery religious speech, until he lost his patience and accused the church of causing more harm than good for the peasants of Europe, unmasking his face to raise his voice as the priest retorted that he was trying to help their lost souls, believing even devils like themselves could be redeemed by God’s grace.

With dawn approaching, Logan thanks the priest for his aid, a complete reversal of his earlier attitude which had not soured like Friedrich’s. During the entire meeting Johann had remained hidden by the table, listening to the exchange of words as he too questioned the nature of this priest. He had taken comfort in the conviction of his words and faith, an affect that had never reached him so deeply. Once the other kindred had left the chapel, he revealed his hideous visage to the father, whom braced himself silently at the twisted pitiful deformities before catching his breath.

With a cracked voice, the Nosferatu thanked the priest for showing him that true belief was no myth, that there was hope even in his cursed form to experience the redemptive catharsis of the Lord. Father Miklos thanked him in turn for showing himself after hiding for so long, observing the prayers without being driven away was a glad sign that Johann’s soul could still be salvaged...