Count Fenalik
No-one of the surname Fenalik is listed in the Paris directory, nor in any record of the last 100 years. However, the investigators there are a number of court histories refer to an unspecified scandal in the queen’s court on the eve of the Revolution, when a man of the minor nobility was apparently involved in an indiscretion with the queen. After a palace uproar, the fellow was executed without trial. The man was a German count named Fenalik.
There´s a diary of Mademoiselle De Brienne, a member of the queen’s court. It discusses the Fenalik incident and its outcome. For the most part, the diary records the petty intrigues and affairs which plagued the court. But it also relates an incident involving a “Comte Fenalicheque” in June, 1789. Damaged by water, parts of the manuscript are now illegible.
Diary of Mademoiselle de Brienne, june 1789
The Comte was like a sun amongst us, shedding his light and making all rejoice in his pleasures. His feasts are said to be the most lavish and lascivious yet seen in our city....
It was then that it became apparent that much evil was afoot, and the Queen became angered. The King’s men did raid the house, and much was destroyed, and the Comte was arrested...
The investigators also finds the diary of Louis Malon, the captain who led the assault on Fenalik’s mansion in Poissy, a suburb west of Paris. Malon seemed to have been shaken by the experience. There is record of goods presented to the treasury, including “paintings, snuff boxes, wine, silk clothing, statuary”. No further research uncovers the fate of these items.
Report of captain Louis Malon, june 1789
When we arrived, the feast was still in progress, men and women were rutting like rabid dogs. We chased them out, arresting the ones who were not able to vouch for themselves. I sent six men to capture the Comte, while I entered the chambers beneath. I cannot bring myself to describe what I saw there, save that we had entered a cesspool and it was Hell. God protect us. Many devices of torture lay in many chambers. One of my men found a strange Nuremburg Virgin, which was locked. Fearing to find a fresh occupant, we smashed it open, but found it to be empty. It was a dark day when noble vermin such as Pfenalik did descend upon Poissy, and if God does not punish him for his sins, then the King surely will. It was with a just heart that I did give the order to burn the house and those who remained below, though the Comte did howl and scream as though his very soul was burning. We then took him to the place that would be his new home. There may he rot.
Poissy is a town located in the western suburbs of Paris, 24 km from the city center.
Another piece of evidence is the journal of Lucien Rigault, a physician to the Queen.
Journal of Lucien Rigault, june 1789
Two nights later the soldiers of the King went in force to the Comte’s villa, to halt his excesses. After they burned his mansion, they brought the Comte before the King’s deputy, who then ordered me present to deliver an opinion.
Comte Fenalik was screaming and writhing. It was easy to see that he was mad. As a nobleman and a madman, he could not be executed, so I suggested that a merciful King might place Fenalik in Charenton. The King’s deputy apparently decided upon this course, and arranged that Fenalik be taken there. Later the King expressed his approval, and the disposition was made permanent. The last I learned of him was that he had been locked away in a cellar, because he had attacked other patients.
Sedefkar Simulacrum
After hours of research, Remi gets an insight from a clerk named Maxim. A thin, unattractive young man with sunken eyes and an introverted temperament. He appears to be the ancient book expert in the library. Specific reference to the Sedefkar Simulacrum and its owner occurs only in pre-Revolutionary documents. It was a crazy time, and many things were lost or deliberately destroyed.
The investigators find the Devil’s Simulare, an illuminated Latin manuscript. It was written by an anonymous Cistercian monk around 1260, and bound as a book in Venice in 1505. The book is considered apocrypha and the work of a mad cleric. It is known of in occult circles but the only known copy was kept in the church of San Maria Celeste in Venice.
Charenton Asylum
All information uncovered about Count Fenalik´s fate leads to his disappearance within the walls of the Charenton asylum. It seems that the count never got out of there. Reports from the doctors of that time say he eventually died and, having no close relatives or friends in Paris, he was buried in an anonymous mass grave. Remi remembers a recent strange fact that involved a doctor at the Charenton Asylum. The asylum indeed at Charenton still exists. It is located in the East End of Paris, close to a park named the Bois de Vincennes. It still protect the sane from the insane, and vice versa. It is perhaps most-famous to late 20th century theater-goers as the final homes of Jean Paul Marat and Comte Donatien Alphonse François de Sade.
The search through the newspapers, turns up an obituary of the asylum’s director, and dedications from friends and colleagues. The article is just two months old. Apparently, the former director dies due to an accident that occurred inside the Charenton Asylum.
We mourn the loss of our esteemed director, Dr. Etienne Delplace, a man of the highest professional standards and a true pioneer in the field of neurology. His loss by tragic accident occurred within our renowned institution comes as a great blow. We at the hospital extend our heartfelt sympathies to his family, hoping that they may overcome their grief in time. Dr. Delplace will be missed by the Charenton community, Paris at large, the glorious nation of France, and civilized men everywhere.
Dr. François Leroux, Acting Director.
The Count's villa in Poissy
Research failed to reveal the location of the Count's villa in the Paris library. However, the investigators uncover the probable reason. Remi discovers that some books and documents about the city of Poissy, dating back or treating the time when Fenalik lived in this place, mysteriously disappeared two months ago. After questioning the library staff, no one can explain how this could have happened. No one in the records has ever asked to consult or borrow this material in recent times. Remi remembers a strange thing happened about two months ago that could be related to the missing documents. That night he was alone in the library, he thought he saw a strange shadow stealthily moving among the bookshelves. He had the impression of seeing the shadow of a man in a raincoat and hat. Remi saw him only for a moment. He thought he had hallucinated due to fatigue and did not bother to investigate too much.
The documents in the Catacombs
The investigators found some documents concerning the Comte Fenalik’s Villa, in Poissy a city located few miles away from Paris.
The villa is a well-documented architectural oddity. Accounts describe it as a potpourri of architectural styles, ranging from classical Greek and medieval buttresses to fresh-built broken towers imitating Gothic ruins, similar to the English fashion of decorative ruins on country estates. The threestory building had a dozen bedrooms, a ballroom, and numerous sitting rooms. There´s a set of plans made by a Parisian builder and detail the layout of the house, down-leading stairs indicating the existence of an unmapped cellar area. A cameo etching of the mansion’s front view exists. The lines of the building are subtly crazed and seem not to be the product of a rational mind. The site of the villa is not listed.
Paris - Handouts
A puzzling headline begins a front-page article found in the Times of London. Three men, all identical in identification, were found dead in the same room of the Chelsea Arms Hotel. Then the home of a valued friend burns to the ground, severely injuring him in the process. It is the beginning of "Horror On The Orient Express" a European campaign set in the winter between January and March of 1923. Over the course of the campaign, the investigators are trying to collect the various pieces of an ancient statue called the Sedefkar Simulacrum. Night falls early then, and each night is long and cold. The campaign is made up of 11 scenarios, taking place in seven nations, the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, Italy, The Kingdom of Serbs Croats and Slovenes, Bulgaria, and Turkey. All are stops on the path of the Simplon-Orient Express.
Moderator: robertod
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