Session 07 Wrap Up

What Happened

The morning of August 8th found the investigators battered and sleepless after the Nightgaunt attack at Palais_Kinsky. Charlotte_Thorne, too wounded to be moved, remained upstairs under sedation. Into this grim tableau arrived Katherine_Ward — Mrs. Catherine Ward in public, Catherine Langley to those who needed to know — an Order_of_St_Aelfric operative reassigned from Kraków on Lord_Percival_Harcourt’s direct orders. She presented her letter of introduction, established her cover as a chaperone for the Wentworth sisters, and laid out her skills plainly: lockpicking, stealth, information gathering, and moving through the world as though she barely existed. Thomas_Wyndham checked in on the meeting; the party accepted her with skepticism gradually giving way to pragmatic relief.

While Katherine made introductions, Adrien_de_Montferrand and Freddy_Cavendish slipped out to the Goldener_Hirsch to brief Leopold_Fischbein on the full scope of the threat — the Brotherhood_of_the_Open_Measure, the Harmonic Engine, the harvesting of musicians’ body parts, and the approaching ritual. Fischbein listened with the expression of a man who had stopped being surprised by the world, then advised them in his capacity as their lawyer to get the fuck out of town. When asked if he was coming, he admitted he was intrigued enough to stay.

The party then executed a coordinated relocation. Brotherhood watchers — including a sniper positioned three floors up across the street — had been surveilling Palais_Kinsky. The men split up to draw tails in different directions: Adrien ducked through a bookstore and bribed the proprietors for the back exit; Thomas shook his tail by means he declined to explain, returning with a small amount of blood on him; Freddy went back to the bar. Varrio_Harrowmont, wounded leg and all, had already hobbled out and secured rooms at the Gasthof_Weisser_Ochsen on Wipplingerstrasse under assumed names. The party’s luggage was moved while the Brotherhood watchers were distracted by their own internal confusion over the lost tails.

At the White Ox Inn, the party settled into two sleeping rooms, a shared sitting room, and a third-floor single for Adrien, with the coachmen stationed as a first line of defence. Thomas and Varrio collapsed onto the couches and were snoring before anyone could argue about it. Charlotte remained at Palais Kinsky under Pemberton’s watch. Katherine visited Charlotte there, and through a quiet conversation with the heavily sedated woman, obtained a full accounting of everything the group had endured across London and Lyon — the Orphean_Society, the Aeternum_Choir, the horrors in the sewers, and the larger conspiracy driving them across the continent.

That afternoon, Emma_Wentworth, Georgiana_Wentworth, Adrien, and Katherine attended a musical afternoon at the Countess von Thun’s townhouse on the Minoritenplatz. Around thirty guests were assembled, including Madame_Delacroix, who waved from across the room, and Baron von Kaunitz, who watched from near a window with predatory stillness. Adler stood at the back in a grey coat, Anna_Lindqvist beside him in pale blue.

When Anna rose to sing, the room changed. The windows vibrated. A wine glass cracked. Those who had felt the resonance of the cult’s great machine recognised it immediately — Anna’s voice carried the same frequency, inverted and complementary, as though she were the missing piece the Engine had always required. The aria climbed to a note that hung impossibly in the air, and the pressure in every chest intensified — that bone-deep sensation of being observed by something vast and indifferent. Then it passed, and Anna stood trembling as the room erupted in applause, and the full horror of what the party had witnessed settled over them.

After the performance, Georgiana_Wentworth approached Anna and saw what the fashionable collar was designed to conceal: dilated pupils that did not respond to light, deep purple-grey bruising along her throat and jaw consistent with repeated trauma at an inhuman level, and persistent tremors in her hands. Anna admitted the training had been taxing, began to say something more — then Adler materialised behind her, took her arm, whispered something low and vehement, and steered her toward the door. One sharp glance back at the Wentworth sisters. Carriage called. Gone.

The session ended with the party understanding that whatever was going to happen, it was going to happen that night, at the masquerade.

PC Carry-Forward

Adrien_de_Montferrand (Anna)

• Led the intelligence effort, briefing Fischbein and successfully evading Brotherhood surveillance.
• Watched Adler and Anna leave the salon from the terrace — witnessed Adler’s controlling behaviour firsthand.
• Carrying forward: Tactical leadership role. Likely pushing for action regarding Anna’s safety. His Palais Kinsky remains the location where Charlotte convalesces.

Emma_Wentworth (Missy)

• Present at the salon; subject of Graf Sternberg’s ongoing romantic pursuit (unresolved from prior sessions).
• Thomas Wyndham remains in love with her and maintained armed vigil the previous night.
• Carrying forward: Central to any social scenes at the masquerade. The Sternberg/Wyndham tension remains a live wire. Emma approached Anna at the salon — she has a personal connection to the soprano’s plight.

Georgiana_Wentworth (Beth)

• Made the critical medical observation about Anna’s physical condition — dilated pupils, throat bruising, hand tremors.
• Carrying forward: Georgiana holds the concrete evidence that Anna is being systematically abused. This gives the party moral justification (and urgency) to act. Her sharp mind makes her the party’s best analyst of what they’re facing.

Freddy_Cavendish (Jay)

• Accompanied Adrien to the Goldener Hirsch; helped brief Fischbein.
• Previously arranged the masquerade invitations and masks (Session 6).
• Carrying forward: Freddy’s social connections remain the party’s entry into Viennese high society. He’s the newest member and hasn’t yet had a defining character moment in the field — the masquerade may provide one.

Katherine_Ward (Juel)

• First session. Arrived, established her cover, met the party, visited Charlotte, and attended the salon as background.
• Demonstrated fieldcraft by seamlessly blending into the von Thun salon as an unremarkable widow.
• Carrying forward: Katherine hasn’t yet been tested in action. The masquerade is her first real operational deployment with this group. Her lockpicking, stealth, and infiltration skills are exactly what the party needs for whatever comes next. She now holds the full briefing from Charlotte about London and Lyon.

Varrio_Harrowmont (Phil)

• Despite a major thigh wound, he secured the White Ox Inn under assumed names — the most practically useful act of the morning.
• Collapsed from exhaustion in the sitting room with Thomas.
• Carrying forward: Varrio’s wound limits his mobility but not his resourcefulness. His PTSD from witnessing Moreau’s death (he fainted at the Nightgaunt) remains a psychological vulnerability. He is the party’s medical expert.