Episode Two
After a week as guests at Castle Falkenstein and at hunting lodges down in the wooded valleys, it is the night of the summer ball. The great and the good from all over New Europa are in attendance. Rocher talks to Lord Auberon of Faerie, Gwenny dances with gentleman from Texas, Lady Isabel talks and dances with Rhyme Enginemaster, whom she finds to be agreeable company. but as the lovers and friends waltz in the grand ballroom, there is a shocking attack in the terraced east garden.
Katharin Pengellon is out taking the air with Colonel Tarlenheim. Someone strikes the Colonel from behind, and the old buffer falls down, out cold. Katharin screams out as she is dragged away by the assailant. Emily runs down from the terrace outside the ballroom, Lindsay Pengellon himself follows a little way behind her. By the time Lord Rocher arrives out on the terrace, he is met by an astounding site.
Floating magical pink globes drift between the trees, illuminating the shrubs and flower beds. Hanging in the air a short distance away, now roughly level with Rocher is a balloon, a wooden cabin beneath it. Crude metal funnels slung below the cabin twist and turn, presumably providing a little steering. Lord Rocher watches as a female figure is dragged into the cabin. A rope ladder hangs beneath the balloon, with two figures climbing up, Emily Pengellon nearing the top and her father further down.
A balding, grey haired man in suit steps onto balloon's platform, and points a walking cane down, shooting Pengellon, who falls into the trees. The crowd watching on terrace gasps, and a man exclaims 'Moriarty!'. Two women feint. Moriarty fires a couple of shots above the heads of the watching crowd as the balloon rises and drifts away to the south.
Charles and Gwenny ride out north from Falkenstein, hoping to track the progress of the balloon, but it is difficult, as they must ride quite a distance to the north and then west to reach roads that head south behind the mountain range.
Lord Lindsay is carried from the garden to a side room. Doctor Watt tends to him. A page arrives for Pengellon with a telegram from Moriarty, demanding a ransom of a thousand pounds and the Buckley Street Blueprints for the safe return of Katharin. Further instructions will be sent to a hotel in Vienna. There's a forty eight hour deadline. Shortly afterwards, it's discovered that the Blueprints have been stolen from the safe in Pengellon's room. Pengellon's man Len identifies The Texan, Emmett Holliday as the thief. Further investigation reveals Holliday to have fled the castle on a fast horse a good half hour ago.
Pengellon's priority is his wife and daughter. Rocher assures his old friend that he has a plan. Rhyme Enginemaster gets to work drawing up a realistic but useless approximation of the blueprint. King Ludwig agrees to loan Pengellon the sum of money demanded by Moriarty. The next morning, Lord Rocher, Lady Isabel, Gwendolyn, Charles and Basil Carter take a carriage to Munich where they board a train to Vienna.
As the train rattles east, Charles Bellmont is summoned to the guards office, wherein he is surprised to find Birgitta Kaufmann. She tries to blackmail him, telling him of his father's affair with legendary murderess Frida Faltsburg. Faltsburg is his mother, claims Birgitta. Lord Horace Bellmont would be disgraced if the newspapers were to be told of his long affair with the woman who shot Lord Winchester dead outside parliament in 1845. Birgitta already has a headline in mind - 'Bastard Son of Lord Bellmont tells of his longing to meet Murderess Mother'. Birgitta asks that Charles keeps her advised, by telegram, of the progress to recover the blueprints, which, she assumes, is why he is travelling to Vienna. She gives him her personal telegram number, but Charles gives no indication as to whether or not he will comply with her wishes.
At the hotel in Vienna, a telegram arrives from Moriarty, with instructions for the hand over of the ransom. Lord Rocher is told to wait on a bench in a nearby square, whilst Charles, Isabel, Gwendolyn and Basil watch from a safe distance. A slow walking, pale skinned young lady, in a pale blue dress walks up to Rocher, and holds out her hand for the holdall Rocher carries. Rocher talks to her, deciding a little negotiating is in order. She has a most peculiar, stilted manner of speaking. Rocher gives her the money, saying he will only hand over the blueprints upon safe delivery of Katharin and Emily.
The young woman walks off with the bag, which she tucks under her cloak. South of the square, near the Art History Museum, she suddenly and abruptly stops. Rocher runs over, and sees that the truth about this woman. She is a clockwork automaton, her face now clearly wooden. Some sort of spell must have been cast on her to enhance the illusion and project speech from elsewhere. A drain cover is open beneath her skirts, and Rocher can hear someone running away.
Basil Carter leads the way through the rainwater drain. Another cover is open a few minutes away, and this comes out on the square outside the railway station. A automotive is speeding out of view, but as luck would have it, another automotive, a BMW i-3 SteamMobile, is idling nearby, its owner attending to something under the bonnet. Rocher leads the way, and leaps into this ruddy-faced chap's pride and joy, settling himself behind the wheel. Everyone climbs in. The owner cries out, but soon leaps out the way as Rocher releases the hand brake. The chase is on!
Charles Belmont
played by Dorian
Lady Isabel Cavendish
played by Esther
Lord Rocher
played by Matt
Lady Gwendolyn St Clare
played by Teresa
Castle Falkenstein Episode 2
Written and Performed by
Peter Taylor
Game rules, the Castle Falkenstein world
created by
Mike Pondsmith.
Castle Falkenstein © Mike Pondsmith 1994.
Music and sound effects controlled using
RPG Soundmixer.
Episode played on Monday 7th June 2010
A Clockwork in Vienna - Sunday 19th June 1870.
Katharin Pengellon is out taking the air with Colonel Tarlenheim. Someone strikes the Colonel from behind, and the old buffer falls down, out cold. Katharin screams out as she is dragged away by the assailant. Emily runs down from the terrace outside the ballroom, Lindsay Pengellon himself follows a little way behind her. By the time Lord Rocher arrives out on the terrace, he is met by an astounding site.
Floating magical pink globes drift between the trees, illuminating the shrubs and flower beds. Hanging in the air a short distance away, now roughly level with Rocher is a balloon, a wooden cabin beneath it. Crude metal funnels slung below the cabin twist and turn, presumably providing a little steering. Lord Rocher watches as a female figure is dragged into the cabin. A rope ladder hangs beneath the balloon, with two figures climbing up, Emily Pengellon nearing the top and her father further down.
A balding, grey haired man in suit steps onto balloon's platform, and points a walking cane down, shooting Pengellon, who falls into the trees. The crowd watching on terrace gasps, and a man exclaims 'Moriarty!'. Two women feint. Moriarty fires a couple of shots above the heads of the watching crowd as the balloon rises and drifts away to the south.
Charles and Gwenny ride out north from Falkenstein, hoping to track the progress of the balloon, but it is difficult, as they must ride quite a distance to the north and then west to reach roads that head south behind the mountain range.
Lord Lindsay is carried from the garden to a side room. Doctor Watt tends to him. A page arrives for Pengellon with a telegram from Moriarty, demanding a ransom of a thousand pounds and the Buckley Street Blueprints for the safe return of Katharin. Further instructions will be sent to a hotel in Vienna. There's a forty eight hour deadline. Shortly afterwards, it's discovered that the Blueprints have been stolen from the safe in Pengellon's room. Pengellon's man Len identifies The Texan, Emmett Holliday as the thief. Further investigation reveals Holliday to have fled the castle on a fast horse a good half hour ago.
Pengellon's priority is his wife and daughter. Rocher assures his old friend that he has a plan. Rhyme Enginemaster gets to work drawing up a realistic but useless approximation of the blueprint. King Ludwig agrees to loan Pengellon the sum of money demanded by Moriarty. The next morning, Lord Rocher, Lady Isabel, Gwendolyn, Charles and Basil Carter take a carriage to Munich where they board a train to Vienna.
As the train rattles east, Charles Bellmont is summoned to the guards office, wherein he is surprised to find Birgitta Kaufmann. She tries to blackmail him, telling him of his father's affair with legendary murderess Frida Faltsburg. Faltsburg is his mother, claims Birgitta. Lord Horace Bellmont would be disgraced if the newspapers were to be told of his long affair with the woman who shot Lord Winchester dead outside parliament in 1845. Birgitta already has a headline in mind - 'Bastard Son of Lord Bellmont tells of his longing to meet Murderess Mother'. Birgitta asks that Charles keeps her advised, by telegram, of the progress to recover the blueprints, which, she assumes, is why he is travelling to Vienna. She gives him her personal telegram number, but Charles gives no indication as to whether or not he will comply with her wishes.
At the hotel in Vienna, a telegram arrives from Moriarty, with instructions for the hand over of the ransom. Lord Rocher is told to wait on a bench in a nearby square, whilst Charles, Isabel, Gwendolyn and Basil watch from a safe distance. A slow walking, pale skinned young lady, in a pale blue dress walks up to Rocher, and holds out her hand for the holdall Rocher carries. Rocher talks to her, deciding a little negotiating is in order. She has a most peculiar, stilted manner of speaking. Rocher gives her the money, saying he will only hand over the blueprints upon safe delivery of Katharin and Emily.
The young woman walks off with the bag, which she tucks under her cloak. South of the square, near the Art History Museum, she suddenly and abruptly stops. Rocher runs over, and sees that the truth about this woman. She is a clockwork automaton, her face now clearly wooden. Some sort of spell must have been cast on her to enhance the illusion and project speech from elsewhere. A drain cover is open beneath her skirts, and Rocher can hear someone running away.
Basil Carter leads the way through the rainwater drain. Another cover is open a few minutes away, and this comes out on the square outside the railway station. A automotive is speeding out of view, but as luck would have it, another automotive, a BMW i-3 SteamMobile, is idling nearby, its owner attending to something under the bonnet. Rocher leads the way, and leaps into this ruddy-faced chap's pride and joy, settling himself behind the wheel. Everyone climbs in. The owner cries out, but soon leaps out the way as Rocher releases the hand brake. The chase is on!
Charles Belmont
played by Dorian
Lady Isabel Cavendish
played by Esther
Lord Rocher
played by Matt
Lady Gwendolyn St Clare
played by Teresa
Castle Falkenstein Episode 2
Written and Performed by
Peter Taylor
Game rules, the Castle Falkenstein world
created by
Mike Pondsmith.
Castle Falkenstein © Mike Pondsmith 1994.
Music and sound effects controlled using
RPG Soundmixer.
Episode played on Monday 7th June 2010
A Clockwork in Vienna - Sunday 19th June 1870.
