31 July 1870, Saturday

~Morning~

What a frightening start to a new day! Mrs Cuthbert has had one of her prophetic dreams with a complete set of gory details (including Herr Bopp using my severed head as a lantern!). I talked her into having a little breakfast with her medicinal brandy and now she has gone to lie down.

Sim Inspector MacGregor was quite curt with me at breakfast. I know that he is quite justifiably angry with me. I did not mean to lead him on. I didn’t! I am certain that Mr Forrester would take every opportunity to mock my situation should he hear of it. This situation is even more unbearable than suing for divorce was, for now the men now involved are honourable and well worth the feelings I hold for them.

I do fear that the vengeance demon’s curse has left some residual stain upon Simon’s heart. Mrs Cuthbert may have had a heartbreaking dream of our defeat at the hands of Herr Bopp, but I had a bittersweet nightmare of victory. In my dream, it was some 14 years in the future. I was married and had two beautiful, if somewhat ill-mannered daughters. This was the sweet part of the dream. Tattvik was still with me. I talked with Salmalin about visiting Lord and Lady Goxhill. We planned to overnight in York so I could visit Simon. It was clear in the dream that I meant Inspector MacGregor.

I remember saying something to Salmalin about the fact that our daughters could not visit Simon as their very existence sent him into hysterics. Salmalin remembered that Simon dreamt that he and I were married with two daughters of the same names. Simon had dreamt of them before he approached me during our stay at the villa in Antwerp. In the dream, Salmalin said that he remembered many things from Simon’s life after the vengeance demon cursed us.

The setting of the dream changed and was I meeting with Simon in a room in the Asylum. It became clear that his mind had been profoundly damaged in a confrontation sometime between now and Miss Chigwidgeon’s wedding. We had stopped the devouring force at the cost of Inspector MacGregor’s sanity and Dr Wilson’s life.

I was too shaken by the details of my dream to be willing to share it in company at the breakfast table. Inspector MacGregor said something about not trusting his dreams while Miss Chigwidgeon was willing to share the contents of hers. Her dream took place very close in time to my own and with similar details.

No one else confessed to any other prophetic dreams. Ruth’s comment on the matter was that evil agents would be better served to send us good dreams that showed us winning easily because warning us in advance always allows us to take steps to insure that the dreamt outcome does not become reality. All we must do is live though the coming encounter to thwart the prophecy. I believe she was more succinct than that, however that is the best I can do for a paraphrase.

Salmalin murmured that he had seen no signs that the dreams had been sent by evil forces but his comment was rather drowned out by other comments around the table.

Inspector MacGregor asked that we verify the disposition of the two other Guardian stones, as Mrs Cuthbert’s dream seemed to indicate that Herr Bopp’s goal is to command the power of all four stones and bring about the final battle between light and darkness.

Sir Cosmo asked us what travel arrangements should be made. We decided not to travel today but to do further research in Antwerp, catch up on writing reports, and rest after our whirlwind tour of Florin.

Miss Haverson took breakfast with us. She was quite adamant that we would be relived of our terrible dreams if we would just give up drinking spirits. Someone at table made the sotto voce comment that it was not spirits of the distilled kind that troubled us. I do not know if Miss Haverson took notice or not but she was very approving of our decision to meet for our regular exercise before departing on our appointed errands.

It was about this time that Miss Sinclair noticed that Edward was missing from table. Desperate for an excuse to depart from Miss Haverson’s strident company I joined Miss Sinclair in the search for Edward. He was quickly located. He was helping Mr Hassan talk to the four Guardians. Miss Chigwidgeon was listening just outside the door. Mr Hassan was able to confirm that the Fish and the Eagle were still in the hands of their protectors and that the Bull was still lost to us under the command of Herr Bopp. Hassan also mentioned that Herr Bopp was at the temple belonging to the Teutonic Knights in Konigsberg where the Bull is kept.

With this new revelation, we took the opportunity to ask Miss Metzger what she knew of the Complex. She said she had never been inside the temple but the grounds of the complex are extensive and include an abbey, a farm, and outbuildings. It was originally built as a fortress but has since been encircled by the city of Konigsberg.

Miss Metzger also mentioned that Herr Bopp carries with him a powerful artefact that allows him to cast spells without raising power of his own. His favourite tactic is to stun as many of his attackers as he can before they can strike at him. This puts us at a significant disadvantage and must be taken in to account as we lay our own plans.

I am taking a moment to update this record before I begin practise with the other ladies and Mr Salmalin. We shall take Miss Haverson into town with us this afternoon and plant her at the American Consulate before, as Miss Bertilde said, she handcuffs herself to anything else.

~Late Afternoon~

I spent the afternoon in the company of Mr Ramsay and Mrs Cuthbert, visiting with Baron van Raalik. He has given me a letter of introduction to Professor Kemp. The professor is the Chancellor of Unsichtbare Hochschule, a member of the Order of St. Jerome, and is considered ‘mostly reliable’. I asked, without much hope, if there was an equivalent to the Lord High Warlock in Berlin and was told that Herr Bopp is the de facto holder of that position.
The Baron also gave me information regarding Herr Bopp’s nominal superior in the Order of the Teutonic Knights. Archduke Wilhelm he is the Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights. He is a distant relative of both King Wilhelm of Prussia and Emperor Franz Josef of Austria. The Grand Master is appointed by the Emperor of Austria but approved by the King of Prussia. If, as in Mrs Cuthbert’s dream, Herr Bopp were able to have the current Grand Master killed without suspicion falling on himself, he would, as second-in-command, be in charge of the order until a new Grand Master was appointed and approved. Herr Bopp does not have the rank or social standing to hope to be appointed Grand Master but he could use the confusion in the interim to his own ends. Herr Bopp’s official titles are Master of the Bailiwick of Konigsberg and Captain-General of the Order of Teutonic Knights.

Baron van Raalik also confirmed that Herr Bopp is known to carry an artefact of the Teutonic Knights, a pre-bronze age hunting dagger. Legend has it that the dagger was taken from one of the many witches that were killed by the Knights in the 1300's. I discussed with the Baron, ways that the dagger might be neutralized, only to run up against my own woefully inadequate education in magik. Apparently you can’t neutralize an artefact from a distance as I had hoped.

While the rest of the League took care of business in town and at our consulate (and gave the annoying Miss Haverson into the custody of the Americans) the Baron gave me leave to work in the Order’s library. I spent most of the time researching spells that I already have some experience with to see if I could convert them to meet the needs of the moment.

My best leads so far are the Awaken Tsukomogami ritual from “Oriental spells and folktales as collected by a watcher” and the Forget spell from “Secrets of the Babylonian Masters”. I am wary of the second spell, as it comes from a book I am not as familiar with and is one of a group of spells that have to do with controlling the mind of person whom the spell is cast against. I was thinking that if I could cast it successfully against Herr Bopp I might be able to distract him. However, given my dream of this morning I am very reluctant to trifle with a spell that is both new to me and that falls very near to what I consider to be dark magik.

We are being called to dinner. I will resume this account later.

~Evening~

All is packed and in readiness for our trip to Berlin on the morrow. With the main rail bridge out our journey will be a long one. I spent the balance of the evening making curse mirror charms in advance of our entry into territory controlled by Herr Bopp. I also visited with Great Aunt Hethalyn. I asked for her advice regarding our upcoming action. She suggested that I do further research on the borrowing spell. She also told me that there was a way to create a magic circle without all of the physical objects involved in that ritual– that it is possible to ward one’s body just as one would ward a room.

I will have to think on that some more.

In addition to asking her for her assistance on technical matters of magik, I asked for her advice regarding the awkward situation I find myself in regarding Inspector MacGregor. She said it was best not to let things fester, which is far more typical of her advice, in that it confirmed some of my fears without giving much to work with. We talked for quite some time without coming to any good conclusions.

Fear left over from this morning’s dream drives me to seek some protection for Sim Inspector MacGregor before we confront Herr Bopp. From what the Salmalin in my dream said, the two of them share some memories as a result of the vengeance demon’s curse. I am concerned that damage done by the curse may be exacerbated by any magikal attacks Inspector MacGregor may have to endure from Herr Bopp, his allies, or God Forbid, a spell gone awry from the League itself.

There is little more I can do tonight except pack my few final items and get what might be the last good night’s sleep for the foreseeable future.

1 August 1870, Sunday

~Late Evening, Berlin~

We made an early start to our journey. As I hoped, I was able to sleep soundly last night and so was rested and ready to go when Tattvik knocked on my door this morning. I will miss our villa and the luxury of having my own room in a house that we can ward and protect and be fairly certain that nothing more frightening than the estate agent is lurking about in.

The hotel that Sir Cosmo has settled us in is very nice and worthy of his station, but it is also full of people we do not know. Our set of rooms is on the third floor. Sir Cosmo has a suite that will suit us well for any discussions we may have.

Mr Ramsey and I warded the rooms of the rest of the League before retiring. Mr Hassan and the Lion are installed in a room next to Sir Cosmo’s. Miss Metzger is with us as well. She has shared her knowledge of Herr Bopp freely up to this point, and she, more than anyone has a reason to desire vengeance against him.

I spent much of the day riding in the freight car and practising the spells suggested by Great-Aunt Hethalyn. Mr Salmalin and Mrs Cuthbert were able to monitor me while I tried to work out how the self-ward worked. After several hours of practice I was able to manifest something that Mr Salmalin could see, so that is some progress. Also, Miss Chigwidgeon graciously consented to allow me to practice the Borrowing spell on her. It is a very difficult spell and it was only after several tries that I was able to leave my body and enter hers.

I do not quite see how this spell will be of help to me, as once I left my body I was unable to control it in any way. I did accidentally wave Miss Chigwidgeon’s hand around and she was able to hear part of what I was thinking, especially things that, had I been in my own body, I would have said aloud.

It was a very strange sensation to see my body from the outside. I fear I got rather a lot of dust on my travelling dress when my body toppled over onto the floor of the railcar. Mrs Cuthbert was a great help to both Miss Chigwidgeon and I, as she could sense where my self had gone and was able to confirm for Miss Chigwidgeon when I had successfully taken up residence. I don’t think this is a spell I would want to try in the heat of battle– there is a lot that can go wrong– not even mentioning the fact that it leaves my body alone and vulnerable.

Great-Aunt did say that it might be most useful in baffling magikal attacks, for if I am not where the attacker thinks I am then the spell might not work. I’m not certain that I understand and it doesn’t help that there seems to have been a great deal left out of the notes in the book she passed down to me.

Upon our arrival in Berlin, Inspector MacGregor was meet by some members of Berlin’s police force. They took him aside for a brief meeting while our belongings were unloaded under David and Stuart’s supervision. I tried to keep them in sight without intruding on the Inspector’s privacy. One of the policeman was kind enough to help with the unloading, though I nearly fainted when he dropped then end of the Lion’s trunk that he had somehow got hold of. Hassan did not seem to be concerned so I tried not to worry. Sure enough, once it was unpacked here at the hotel the artefact showed no sign of its rough treatment.

Now I must to bed. It has been a very long day. I wonder if I will have strange dreams as a result of all my magikal activity today.

2 August 1870, Monday

I woke from another nightmare. It was the more usual jumble of half-formed images and vague dread that is a normal nightmare. In the dream I had been taken prisoner by a man. I spent my days locked in a featureless, windowless room trying to solve the latest magik puzzle given to me. In the evening the man would come for me and escort me to a dinner party where he would put me to the test. Alone in the room, my will was my own, but out amidst the man’s friends I was somehow in thrall to him and could not act on my own thoughts. It was very frightening.

The dream felt like it went on for a long time, however I only bits and pieces. I was told I could keep my Great-Aunt’s necklace if I could keep it from falling to the floor by magik. In the dream, I did not have time to raise power before the man threw the necklace into the air, so I caught it, the way I broke Madam Z’s wards the very first time I encountered such a thing, using what little power remains with me at all times. The second image that has stayed with me is of laying my hands on a wooden table and it shooting forth with leaves and vines, all growing faster than the eye could see, twining round wine glasses and climbing up centerpieces.

I awoke in my room at the hotel. Breakfast has not yet been called and our little section of the hotel is quiet. I am certain that Salmalin is watching over us, though he and George both move so quietly that one only knows if they are about if they want one to notice. Tattvik is busy seeing to Miss Metzger and I hope getting some rest of her own.

My assistant/friend/companion has had a very heavy load to carry what with the household uprooting itself every few days. Even though I have seconded her to Miss Metzger, Tattvik seems to feel compelled to check on all of the ladies’ luggage before it is loaded out. I try very diligently to emulate Miss Sinclair’s independent ways but I know by the way my Tattvik looks at me that I am not always successful.

I must remind Sir Cosmo that I have made provisions for Tattvik should something happen to me. I made certain that she had the name and address of the solicitor that holds my last requests but it would be good for someone beside myself to know of my precautions. Very little of what I have is mine to dispense with as a please but I can at least provide funds for passage home and a small token of my esteem for her and her family. I would hope that Sir Cosmo would aid her in any way necessary.

Tattvik has come to fetch me to breakfast as the others are gathering. Apparently we all had a quiet night, in spite of our strange surroundings.

~Mid Afternoon~

After yesterday’s uneventful travel day (though I did hear something from Miss Sinclair at breakfast this morning that Edward was rambling about on top of the rail cars. One the perils of being a tutor to such a strangely gifted child!) we have quite the agenda to get though today. We have already called upon Professor Kemp, the Chancellor of Unsichtbare Hochschule and he gave us a letter of introduction to the librarian of the Hochschule and permission to search for the information we needed.

Between Professor Kemp of the Amazing Hat and the Librarian’s assistant we were able to glean some useful information about both the artefact that Bopp carries and about the staff and grounds of the headquarters of the Teutonic Knights.

The artefact Bopp carries is known as “Hern’s Dagger” and has been listed in the inventory of the Teutonic Knights since 1255. The blade is made of chipped stone, most probably obsidian. The hilt is made of horn. It has been used in various rituals of the Knights since the 1300's and is considered part of the Grand Master’s regalia, though it is often in the keeping (as in this case) of the second-in-command of the order the Master of the Bailiwick of Konigsberg.

The knife, along with many other artefacts, was captured from witches and other heretics who refused to be converted by the Knights to Christendom. Given what I now know of magik and how the Teutonic Knights use it, their stewardship of these items of power does not seem to be an improvement on that of the people they killed.

The Librarian’s assistant was able to find us several maps of the Grand Order of the Teutonic Knights. Though many of the more recent features on the map are only guesses as to the purpose of various buildings as the Knights and the Order are not on speaking terms.

Salmalin, Mr Ramsey, Mrs Cuthbert, Miss Chigwidgeon, Mr Frazer, Miss Sinclair, Edward, and I spent the afternoon in the library. Though Miss Sinclair did have to spend a fair amount of her time chasing Edward down from the higher stacks.
The other piece of potentially useful information imparted to us by Professor Kemp is that one of the allies or slaves of the Knights is likely to be a type of fae known as a Kelpie.

We have returned to the hotel to wash the dust from our hands and set out again. We have a letter of introduction to Archduke Wilhelm and we hope to warn him of the danger he is in from Herr Bopp and possibly find a new ally.

~Early Evening~

Well that was a distressing near-waste of time. The Grand Master of the Order of the Teutonic Knights is already old and, if not quite frail, quite definitely hard of hearing and slow on the uptake. It would not surprise me to learn that his household and honour guard are in the pay of Herr Bopp. If I thought we could pack the Archduke off with us without getting ourselves arrested for kidnapping I would have.

We did learn a few things as a result of our visit there.

At least one member of the Archduke’s staff listened in on the conversation. Miss Sinclair spotted someone hiding behind a thin wall in the parlour.

The Archduke’s personal valet and secretary, Georg Falkenstein, died two years ago under suspicious circumstance and nearly all of the staff who were employed at that time have since left the Archduke’s service.

About the time of Herr Falkenstein’s death, there was a dispute over the make-up of the Archduke’s honour guard (up until this point they had been Austrian). After the death of Herr Falkenstein, the Archduke’s Austrian guard was replaced by Prussians.

The Emperor of Austria and the King of Prussia are both his cousins, though he seems to be somewhat cut off from Austria’s support.

We encouraged him to write a note to the Emperor of Austria suggesting that the honour-guard issue be reexamined and suggesting that he visit soon. He did so and we hand delivered it to the Austrian embassy along with a strongly worded note suggesting that the Archduke would benefit from a change of scene soon.

We also learned that he keep three pieces of regalia with him. Keys, which are kept on his person, a hat (very like a mitre) and a staff of office (much like a crozier). He had an odd aura. He is not a mage in and of himself, but has a little attachment to his soul. I wish I knew more about what I was seeing so I could make sense of it.

After a lengthy tea, with much shouting and mis-communication, we are back at the hotel to change before going down to dinner. I have dispatched a note to the Librarian of Unsichtbare Hochschule asking him to keep an eye on the Archduke. I know the Order and the Knights are at odds but it is my hope that the Librarian will see the necessity of keeping the Archduke alive until we sort out Herr Bopp. If the Archduke were not so frail or easily confused he might have made a good ally, as it is we may have increased the danger he is in.

There is some sort of commotion in Sir Cosmo’s suite...

3 August 1870, Tuesday

~After Midnight, Before Dawn~

The situation rapidly went from mildly confused to complete chaos, but not yet, I hope, disaster. I have a few quiet moments before the League reassembles and we devise a plan. Meantime, we are on a train to Konigsberg and if Herr Bopp didn’t know we were on our way before, he certainly knows now.

What transpired is this No, I have no time for a detailed record, instead I will summarize:

Mr O’Flaherty and George, working independently, each caught a man sneaking around the League’s quarters in the hotel. One man had followed us from the Archduke’s residence and one was trying to break in to the room where the Lion was held. They did not seem to know each other or be working for the same organizations. Both were unconscious when our protectors brought them to us.

We questioned them unsuccessfully. I really must learn to stay out of such matters. I invariably give away more information than I receive and I am unable to convincingly threaten anyone– especially given the fact that I believe that prisoners should be protected from harm. I realize this rather idiosyncratic view is not helpful, but I cannot seem to stop myself from becoming involved when the League ends up with prisoners. In future I shall attempt to limit my questioning to madmen– they seem to respond to me in a surprisingly useful fashion. Though I am not certain that it is entirely healthful.

I do hope and pray my earlier dream does not come true. I would be most distressed to be required to use this strange talent with Inspector MacGregor. I cannot decide what to do. Every five minutes I devise a new plan, or find myself itching to write a letter to the Inspector explaining the situation. Thankfully I have not yet acted on any of these thoughts.

I want to help him, yet I know that my behaviour is part of the source of his pain. In my years of married life I had forgotten some of the rules that govern relations when one or more of the parties is unmarried. In the excitement of finding what seemed to be a kindred spirit in the Inspector, I let too much of my delight in his presence show though in our times together. Almost unknowingly, I encouraged his affections. Deep down, I was flattered by the attention he paid me and quite frankly, since this is my journal, it was not until he hinted that he was thinking of suggesting that he might be willing to pay court to me that I realized how much I had come to care for Salmalin. It shames me even to write this but the affection of the inspector threw my own feelings into sharper relief. In my own defence I can only say that I did not mean to lead the Inspector on in any way– I did not know my own heart, and my pragmatic side certainly looked on a union, if such there was to be, with the Inspector with favour.

As I have written before, I have been down the road of pragmatism before and was ill served by it. I hope the Inspector finds someone worthy of his great heart. In the meantime, I wis do not know what to do.

Only time can heal some wounds, I just fear that there it not time enough to put things right before we are all in danger, again.

Ruth has come to get me, we are assembling to take council with one another. The attack by the anarchists caused me to use magik in such a way that Herr Bopp cannot mistake our approach, and more specifically the approach of the Lion and its keeper.

Our train steams though the night toward Bopp’s stronghold and I do not know what to do or if I shall ever have time to record the details of the actions of the eavesdropping Polizei-kapitan Wymms, the incompetent young anarchist (with the father who can afford to give him a quite good clothing allowance), the almost successful anarchist attack upon the train, their, now foiled, efforts to steal the Lion, and the surprising package we have addressed to the self-same Kapitan Wymms.

I can only hope that the dreams sent as warnings will help us avoid the dire fate detailed in them and that the actions we take will save us from Herr Bopp’s nefarious plans.

Proceed to An unfortunate tendency

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