Unhallowed Metropolis - The Curious Cases of Dr Bartlebee

Prologue: Case File LW24B ??? Lady in White, City in Grey - part 2

?????? Having discovered that the hair sample has traces of agaptic serums, algae and tanning agents, Dr Edward, Sir Arthur, Ophelia and Lottie decide tohead to the East End and chase up the issue of who hired the gang.Taking a cab to the East End, Edward and Lottie head to the Wriggling Finger, hoping that they might find someone who spotted the man who hired the gang. However, after shelling out a few shillings Lottie simply found out that the man in the wide brimmed hat and with the rattler and talisman was in fact some one slumming it, someone with apparently fine boots. Meanwhile Sir Arthur and Ophelia headed down to the dock side, looking out for the leather working shops. After some time they started to head back to the Wriggling Finger, however, as Ophelia spotted, they were being followed. Taking a turing down a dark alleyway Arthur and Ophelia set a simple trap, eliminating their would be muggers with deft decaptating sword swipes and well placed shots between the eyes.
?????? Arriving at the inn and finding Edward and Lottie outside waiting they head back to the West End where Ophelia maintains her flat in a Mourner guild house. Once inside the head Matron of the house, making note of the time, suggests that Ophelia should let her guests stay in the lounge. Meanwhile Ophelia brings down a collection of books and she and Edward begin to start looking for the meaning of the talisman. It is also brought to their attention that Dr Bartlebee has sent them a letter, a quick message that he needs them to head into the East End to find Julia Eallen. Julia was a close friend of Josephine, and came to Barltebee to say that she had spotted Josephine heading to the East End, along the river side. Bartlebee urges that the party find Julia and then find Josephine. With Edward and Lottie pouring over the books Arthur and Lottie headed back into the East End, needing to act fast before it got any darker.
?????? In the East End, walking along the dock side, Lottie and Arthur once more check out the leather working shops, and after some time of walking about the docks they find Julia calling out for Josephine. Julia is not alone and has hired a guide.Sir Arthur approaches and is startled that Julia is not shocked by the idea that Josephine is still alive. Instead he quickly sends Julia back to Bartlebee's house. With Julia now out of the way Lottie and Arthur return to searching for Josephine. Speaking to some dock hands they soon found that one, who was now the subject of ridicule, has seen a woman in a night gown near to the crates just outside the Stalzen Leather Goods warehouse. But as soon as they started in the direction of he factory a whining began, an intermitant siren. All around the dock hands dropped what they were doing. There were screams and cries of terror. There was a possible outbreak in that part of the East End and there would be soon be Death Watch soldiers on the streets. Both Lottie and Arthur ran to the main street in order to find horses to ride out on. Spying in a linen warehouse a horse and cart. Arthur pulled out his pistol and shot at the lock but it didn't open the main doors of the warehouse. Taking the iniative Lottie simply cracked open the high windows of the warehouse and clambered in, followed by Arthur. With both of their weight on a crowbar they wrenched off the lock on the front doors. They swung open and to their horror, just across the street were the first of a wave of freshly turned zombies. Arthur legged it to the carriage and whipped the horse forward while Lottie took shots at the reanimated dead workers, nailing one in the forehead and destroying it's brain. However, in his haste, Arthur almost ran Lottie over, but she was much to quick and tumbled out of the way before leaping onto the back of the carriage, and as they made their desperate run to the gates of the sector Lottie let off another volley of shots from her pistol. The carriage sped along towards the walls of the sector, the Death Watch with their guns levelled, but fortunately they were let through at the last moment, the soldiers checking them for outward signs of the Plague. It seems Sir Arthurs position had once more given them the edge they needed.
?????? Returning to the Mourner's guild house, Lottie and Arthur described to Edward and Ophelia. In return Ophelia and Edward explain that they have discovered what the talisman is. The all seeing eye and the scalpels means that the man was working for a rumoured group, a cult known as the Lux ex Morte. Seeing that the streets of the East End would be empty, the group think that the time would be right to go back to the docks and finally end this mystery.
?????? Comissioning a small boat the group makes their way to the docks of the East End and make their way to the Stalzen warehouse.

Unhallowed Metropolis - The Curious Cases of Dr Bartlebee

Prologue: Case File LW24B ??? Lady in White, City in Grey

????????????????In Highgate, a horse-drawn cab trundles it's way up the cobbled street and parks outside the residence of Dr Bartlbee, Offices of Private Investigation. A man exits the cab and pays the fare. He is dressed in a long leather coat wearing a bowler hat, a standard brass gas mask and carrying a worn and creased black leather medical bag. His gas mask hiss and tilts upwards as the man inspects the house and checks the weather. Lightning crackles above in the ash laden clouds.
?????????? Knocking on the door of the typical Georgian three story house, it's outer brick work stained with soot and rain, the man is greeted by a fumpy aging old lady, the head maid of the household, who ushers the man inside and through the inner door. The man begins to take off his coat and his gas mask which are all hung up for him in the cloak room. The man then hands the maid his business card. In times new roman it read 'Dr Edward Brick, Practioner of the Medical Sciences and Anatomy'. The maid then leads Edward into the main drawing room where she prepares a hot pot of tea for him and then goes to tell Dr Bartlebee that he has arrived.
?????????? Soon enough there is another knocking on the front door and the maid finds a young street urchin before herself. The girl, dressed in a long pvc coat, tall boots, stockings and a torn and modified bustle skirt and corset, introduces herself as Lottie and that the Dr is expecting her. The maid, with a heavy heart, leads the girl to the drawing room where she then asks for a drink of gin while they wait. She looks over at Edward and is unimpressed by the scruffy man, his suit thread bare and stained, his face not as closely shaven as it could be. Edward is reading some notes and medical papers.
???????? The next arrival is Ophelia, a mourner. She is tall and wears a tight fitting corset, a small top hat, immaculate pale makeup, and a custom skirt that just about conceals her impossibly high heeled boots. Her hair is unusually blond and long. She seems to gilde into the room and also asks for a tea and pays no attention to the other that are present.
???????? The final, late arrival is Sir Arthur Augustus Hallow-Woodsby, a knight of the realm. Tall, dark, wear a fine suit and sporting a cane he is treated with the upmost respect by the maid she prepares a glass of wine for him and he too is led to the drawing room where he examines the others as if a lord were examining his livestock.
???????? Finally the maid returns and tells them all to follow her to the dining room where Dr Bartlebee will greet them. The dining room is large and has windows looking out onto the garden of the house. There is a table large enough to seat 12 people and the walls are wallpapered with a sickly green material. Above is a fine chandelier. At the head of the table is Dr Bartlebee, a portly fellow, dressed in a smoking jacket and twirling his long handlebar mustache. His is drinking a glass of brandy and smoking a large cigar. Edward, Arthur, Lottie and Ophelia sit, Lottie chewing on a large cigar. Bartlebee is amused and offers his cigars to the girl before she just steals them. Lottie reaches out and grabs a generous amount and stuffs them in a pocket.
???????? Bartlebee then goes on to explain that a good friend of his, the industrialist, Mathew Haughton, was found dead just four hours ago. He apparently commited suicide after jumping through the window of his fourth floor bedroom, landing in the street, which is just 10 mins from where they are now. Bartlebee passes the case file that he has been able to put together with a friend in the force. THe police have not released the body but have 3 eye witnesses, one of whom is still being held at the station. Bartlebee explains that he is surprised by the event since Haughton was suffering depression due to the death of his daught, but was not the sort of man to commit suicide. There must be something else which would explain why the body had not yet been released and the witness was still held. He tells everyone that they are to get access to the body and the witness and the crime scene and figure out this mess.
?????????? Together in Sir Arthur's carriage, Arthur, Ophelia and Lottie ride to Haughton's house while Edward headed to the station.
Arriving at the house Lottie moves quickly and heads to the back allyways where she can get into the Haughton house while the others talk to the police and the family. Arthur and Ophelia are allowed past by the police and enter the house, after having a cheeky looking at the scene of the death which sits under a police tent. Arthur and Ophelia meet the sister of Haughton, a old refined lady, with pinched features, who explains the death of Haughton's daughter, Josephine, and about Haughton's recent business. Meanwhile, Lottie had already made her way into the garden of the house and was now scaling the back wall, making her way up and finding a window that was unlocked. Creeping inside Lottie then made her way upstairs, only just sneaking past one of the police officers in the house. Once into the bedroom of Mathew Haughton Lottie start to have a look around. The window was visibly broken from the inside, and on the desk there were many letters from Haughton's daughter, along with an open portfolio describing stock prices and efforts by a rival company to win the contract to build a new railroad to the east of England. Then there at the foot of the desk lay the picture of Haughton's daughter, the glass cracked. Walking about a bit more Lottie then foudn something more unusual, foot prints, bare foot prints, of ash. They led from the door to the room to the bed. Following these foot prints Lottie made her way towards a staircase that led to the loft and to a door that led onto the roof. The door had been obviously broken open with force from the outside.
???????? Meanwhile, in the Highgate station, a large and imposing fortfied building, the roof lined with weapon emplacements and spotlights, Dr Brick made his way inside and promptly hypnotised the officer on the desk into allowing him the key to the morgue. Making his way to the morgue Edward open the large reinforced doors and was greeted by two armoured Death Watch soldiers. Edward then found the right drawer and opened it to find the body of Haughton, his face crushed by the impact and his collar bone poking out of his flesh. The body was of course strapped down. Edward then proceeded with his examination and found something odd. A few hair fibers, blonde hair, under Haughton's finger nail. Bagging these Edward then left the morgue and sat in the lobby reviewing the case file.
???????? Soon enough the Athur, Lottie and Ophelia arrived at the station, and pulling the same trick Edward got them access to the witness. The other two witness reports said they saw Haughton jump to his death. In the witness room they found a young man, who said he saw a woman in a white dress forcefully throw Haughton through the window. THe man was quite shaken up and Edward gave him a measure of morphine to calm him.
?????? Leaving the station they all then sat in the nearby pub reviewing the evidence so far and then concluded that they should return to Bartlebee's and perform experiments on the hair, which Edward had found to smell almost a bit like the river and a bit like tanning agents. While Edward laboured away in Bartlebee's lab with Lottie lending a hand, Arthur and Ophelia heard the faint crys for help. They quickly made their way outside and found the witness they had met earlier in an alleyway being beaten by three thugs. With one look at Arthur two bolted for it, while the third raised his gun to shoot. O
phelia then launched forward, whipping her exculpus from out of her skirt and made for a diabling blow, but misjudged the distance and instead set sparks off the blade as it grazed the brick wall of the alley. Quick as a flash Arthur pulled out his pistol and fire two rounds at the man, the shots echoing in the narrow alley. The first slug thudded into the man shoulder and the second hit the leg at the knee, severing the lower lomb off in a spray of blood. Acting quick Arthur took the man's belt off and tied it around the bleeding leg while Ophelia helped the witness, now bloodied and brusied, up and led him back to Bartlebee's.
?????? Once back at Barltebee's the old doctor did his best and seared the wound of the thug using a hot fire iron. Bartlebee then gave the man a quick jab of opiates to knock him out and ease the pain.
???????? Some time then passed until the thug came back to. With Ophelia looming over the man like some death spectre, her blade lowered at his neck, the man told them everything he knew, that they met the man who paid them at a bar. He told them to kill the witness. He wore a mask and a large wide brimmed hat and spoke using a rattler. But there was something else, the thug told them. The man had a small talisman, a triangle with an eye, like a masonic symbol, but with medical instruments.
???????? Edward then came back up form the lab and informed everyone that it seems the hair is from a clone.

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