Leopold von Trautmannsdorff

Overview

Count Leopold von Trautmannsdorff is a 56-year-old Viennese nobleman of considerable wealth and negligible moral courage. He serves the Brotherhood of the Open Measure as financial backer and political shield — not from ideological commitment but from a desperate, misguided hope that involvement in the cult would cure his chronic illnesses.

Originally, Herzfeld promised that the completed ritual would restore Trautmannsdorff’s health. Now, having seen too much to leave safely, he continues funding the operation out of fear of what will happen to him if he attempts to withdraw.

Status as of Session 6: Trautmannsdorff has been captured and is being held in Order custody. He is cooperating with the Order in exchange for guarantees of personal safety and immunity from prosecution.

Physical Description

A portly aristocrat with the soft hands of someone who has never worked. Thinning grey hair, watery blue eyes, a perpetually anxious expression poorly hidden beneath aristocratic hauteur. His clothes are expensive and well-maintained, but his overall appearance suggests a man whose health is declining — a slight stoop, labored breathing after minimal exertion, the pallor of chronic pain.

Statistics

Skills

• Accounting 70%
• Credit Rating 85%
• Law 60%
• Persuade 55%
• Status 75%
• German (Native) 90%
• French 70%
• Italian 60%

Personality

A coward who made a catastrophic miscalculation. Trautmannsdorff is not evil — he is weak and desperate. He originally joined the Brotherhood because he was dying (or so he believed) and was willing to grasp at any promise of salvation. Herzfeld exploited this desperation mercilessly.

Now Trautmannsdorff is trapped. He has provided funding, used his political connections to suppress investigations, and participated in Brotherhood meetings. He has seen parts of the Engine and knows of its victims. He cannot leave without risking exposure and punishment, but continuing to support the cult torments him with guilt he can no longer suppress.

Key Traits:

• Cowardice: His defining characteristic; he will betray anyone to save himself
• Desperation: Clinging to the hope that Herzfeld’s promises are somehow still valid
• Guilt: Deep, gnawing, occasionally breaking through in moments of weakness
• Self-delusion: Telling himself the victims are willing, that transcendence is real, that what he has done is justified

Daily Patterns

Role in the Brotherhood

Trautmannsdorff’s contributions to the Brotherhood:

• Funding: He has provided approximately 10,000 gulden over the past two years, covering materials, salaries, and operational costs
• Political Protection: His connections have been used to suppress police inquiries into missing persons and to misdirect official investigations
• Moral Legitimacy: His participation as a nobleman gives the Brotherhood a veneer of respectability that would otherwise be absent

Vulnerabilities

• Cowardice: The core of his character. He will abandon anyone, even Herzfeld, to save himself
• Embezzlement: To fund the Brotherhood without depleting his own resources, Trautmannsdorff has been embezzling from a charitable trust for orphaned children. Discovery would mean social ruin and legal prosecution.
• Guilt: His conscience is not dead, merely suppressed. If confronted with direct evidence of his victims’ suffering, he may break

Capture & Cooperation

As of Session 6, Trautmannsdorff has been captured by Order operatives (likely during an Intelligence operation by Lady_Honoria_Lyndhurst or her contacts). He is being held in Order custody and has agreed to cooperate in exchange for guarantees of:

1. Personal safety from the Brotherhood
2. Immunity from prosecution for his involvement
3. Possible emigration or relocation after the investigation concludes

What He Knows

If cooperating, Trautmannsdorff can provide investigators with:

Names:

• All core Brotherhood members
• Names of outer-circle members and servants
• The identity of Inspektor Vogel as a corrupted police operative

Locations:

• The exact position and access routes to the sealed anatomical theatre
• Safe houses where Brotherhood members hide
• Locations of Brotherhood documents and financial records

Operations:

• The timeline for Anna Lindqvist’s abduction
• Details of victim selection and acquisition methods
• Herzfeld’s plans for August 15th
• The cult’s communication with the broader Aeternum Choir network

Financial:

• Bank records showing fund transfers to the Brotherhood
• Identification of suppliers and contractors
• Evidence of embezzlement from the charitable trust

Interactions with PCs

If Encountered Before Capture

Trautmannsdorff will be dismissive and anxious. He will not voluntarily reveal anything and will attempt to discourage questions through aristocratic disdain. Internally, he is terrified.

If Rescued from Cult Custody

If the PCs rescue him from the Brotherhood before the Order captures him, he will be profusely grateful and will cooperate immediately to escape. However, his information will be less precise than if obtained after Order interrogation.

If Encountered in Order Custody

If the PCs coordinate with the Order (or are brought into contact with Order custody), they may be allowed to interview Trautmannsdorff. He will be cooperative but cautious, providing information that serves both his interests and the Order’s investigation.

Final Notes

Trautmannsdorff is the least dangerous and most informative member of the Brotherhood. He has no ideology, no genuine loyalty, and no capacity for violence. He is purely a merchant of tragedy who sold his soul for the promise of health and is now paying the price in guilt and terror.

[!info] Keeper Only Once Trautmannsdorff is in Order custody or otherwise safe from the Brotherhood, he becomes a primary source of operational intelligence. His information is reliable because he has incentive to be thorough — the more he reveals, the more valuable his cooperation becomes, and the more likely he is to receive favorable treatment. However, he will minimize his own culpability and may lie about his level of knowledge regarding specific atrocities.

Canon Status: Resolved

As of Session 6, Trautmannsdorff’s arc has been resolved — he is captured and cooperating. Future references to him will be in the context of interrogation scenes, debriefing, or intelligence provided to the party.

Relationships

• Funds Albin Herzfeld — Provides financial and political support to Brotherhood operations
• Member of Brotherhood of the Open Measure — Joined for promised cure; now trapped by knowledge