"The Fox and hounds!" An AAR end game to the mini campaign. Part one

At the end of the previous game the Master Vampire Janek Skorszany had been prevented from accessing his "Safe House" in Limehouse and was fleeing across the streets of London trying to reach the safety of his two remaining crates of earth hidden elsewhere in the city. Our game picks up immediately with the Vampire hunters in hot pursuit....

"Now we have him Inspector Straker!, he is on the run, we must bring this fox to heal quickly!" Professor DeFenzles shouted as he grabbed his Drs bag and raced after the Master. "Tell your Sergeants to slow him down with rifle fire, the bullets will not kill him, but they will slow his movement and then he will be done for.....!"

....Elsewhere at a town house in Mayfair Lord Luscombe was helping himself to another glass of port when he was interrupted by the untimely arrival of Lord Hardacre. " What brings you to my house at this late hour Hardcacre? " he grumbled, his head a little cloudy from the excesses of the port.
 " It seems our Guest Mr Skorzany failed to arrive at the house we rented for him in Limehouse. He was stopped by that nuisance Inspector Straker of the unsanctioned Scotland Yard outfit and a group of unknown assailants."
"What the deuce!?" Exclaimed Luscombe "We.."  Hardacre Interrupted "Yes, we must stop them, If Mr Skorzany is not given safe passage there will be hell to pay with the Ruling Council, they do not look kindly on our failure to protect their kind.... "

The Casebook of Sheraton Howell: Part I Creatures of the Night

In the absence of Sheraton Howell (who is currently 'places unknown'), I, Dr James Whittle, coroner and advisor to one of Europe's finest Consulting Detectives (his great London rival notwithstanding), shall be recording the many strange occurrences that appear to be besieging our city at present.

Unlike the many other cases of Consulting Detective Sheraton Howell and his friend of many years, your humble correspondent, a recent case is not one that I would willingly share, except with those who have also seen what should not be seen. It would never be believed and would no doubt lead to an enforced period of recuperation at one of the hospitals for those of a broken mind that appear so common these days. In fact I do wonder how many souls residing in such places have seen what we have seen?

We now know a great deal more regarding this most ungodly business than we did a scant few months ago, in no small part due to our meeting with Professor Van Helsing, a great authority on this dark world that we, until recently, were blissfully unaware of. Much of the content of this essay owes a debt of thanks to the professor, illuminating our own bewildering journey with his knowledge gained through personal, bitter experience. Should these notes be read, please have an open mind as you review this narrative. It is not the delusions of a mind addled by the poppy but the words of those who have experienced these, these creatures, these things that make one question everything. To understand these words may be the difference between awakening to the dawn in the safety of one’s own home, or awakening to the sunset in a bed of unholy earth. Or simply not awakening at all. 

Preview of the next pack of Gypsies!

Here’s the next pack of Gypsies which include a wise woman and a young girl. Are they servants of the Master Vampire or Werewolf hunters?

"We still have work to do!" The search for the Master Vampire continues, Final part

The sun had set and darkness had descended upon Whitechapel.  The Masters crate sat atop a flat bed wagon which had turned down a side street in an attempt to find a new path to the safe house. The wagon was stationary, the path forward was blocked by dead bodies, most of the Masters henchmen lay dead or dying, the Northern ruffians had either been killed or had fled the scene.

The plain clothes detectives had lost several men but were mostly in good shape and the Vampire Hunters all unharmed. Inspector Straker seeing his path to the crate clear he ran down a side alley and clambered onto the wagon and the crate itself. At that moment he realized his folly, he had no weapon about his person to destroy the Master!

Professor Hargreaves, one of the Vampire Hunters was racing towards him, shouting out " For Gods sake Man, stand clear, if you value your immortal Soul get out of there!"

Straker coming to his senses jumped clear of the box. Fortunately for him his actions were timely as a great force from within the crate blasted the lid clean off which shattered into a multitude of pieces and fragments on the ground behind. Emerging from the crate Straker could make out the form of a tall man or creature, his face concealed in the darkness.

The last surviving henchman seeing his Master appear charged the nearest policeman only to be shot dead in a instant.


Professor Hargreaves raised his silver crucifx and advanced on the crate, calmly recounting prayers and the word of God in an attempt to drive off the Master.

The Master looked past Hargreaves seemingly unaffected by his words, he saw his path to the safe house blocked. From his mouth came a gutteral roar followed by a long hiss and in flash he had leapt from the crate across a wall into the yard of a nearby building.

Hargreaves could vaguely make out the master as he ran across the yard and disappeared through the gates into the darkness....

" We had him!"  said Straker looking at Defenzles as he ran towards the  of the crate along with Professor Hargreaves. "We had him and I let him go!" he said again.

 "Lucky for you that you did otherwise you would not be standing here now. Next time you enter the pit of the Viper take with you such weapon as to defend yourself!" responded Defenzlez. "We must hurry if we are yet to catch this fox tonight! Now we can account for eight boxes, yet two remain and he will lead us to them this night. And then we will end him for good!"

To be continued....

"We still have work to do!" The search for the Master Vampire continues, Part 2

The Masters crate and his henchmen moved forward , knowing at any minute they would most likely come under fire.

It wasn't long before the detectives started the party and shots rang out on the streets of Whitechapel. The Northern Ruffians retaliated, bodies began to pile up in the streets!

Nightfall was coming fast as the sun sank in the sky.

The masters crate was forced to change direction and moved into a narrow alley in an attempt to reach its destination.

A thick fog appeared from no where! The Master controlling the elements, brought the fog down to conceal his movements and restrict visibility.

This did not deter the Hunters who  closed in and a desperate hand to hand fight ensued.

Darkness descended on Whitechapel as the sun finally set and the mood changed...

To be continued... ;)

"We still have work to do!" The search for the Master Vampire continues. Game report

Professor Defenzles was standing at the bedroom window of his Belgravia house  contemplating his failure two days prior to destroy the Master Vampire he had been chasing half way across Europe. How the Vampire had managed to fool him into pursuing the wrong crate containing the Masters dormant body was beyond him. The search had gone completely cold and he knew the Master would now be safely tucked away in some quiet place in London. It might take him months or even years to find him again.
He was distracted by a carriage which stopped immediately outside his house, out of which alighted two men who made straight for his front door. Policemen! They were so obviously policemen even in their plain clothes, they had that distinctive look about them. The Professor knew he had some explaining to do and the excuses made for the fighting and gunfire in Limehouse would not go unnoticed for long even though his friend Inspector Abeline had been present at the time.

He met the men at the door, waving his butler away, he motioned them inside. "Good afternoon Gentlemen, what can..." He was cut short when one of the men interrupted him. I am Detective Inspector Straker. "We know all about the goings on in Limehouse and we know why you have been searching for a number of large crates recently arrived from Europe. We also know what you expected to find within the crate that you intercepted at the Limehouse Wharf. The professor was taken aback, he did not know what to say next. The Inspector smiled and continued "Do you want to know where the rest of the crates have been delivered to?" "And would you like to know the whereabouts of the Master Vampire, Janek Skorzany at this very minute?"

In the carriage on the way to Limehouse Detective Inspector Straker informed DeFenzles of his involvement in the case. Straker was head of Hades Division, a secret department set up by certain members of the government to combat the rise in supernatural activity in London.

Vampires had always been present, but due to Britain being an island the logistics of getting here kept them few in numbers and their presence had been "Manageable" until recently with a sharp rise in activity and a sudden influx of them from Europe.

Now London was becoming a hunting ground with Covens springing up all over the capital. It had been rumored that their influence may reached the government and  may have stretched all the way to the House of Windsor....

So why was Straker telling Defenzles this? simply because he did not have the resources to manage the problem on his own. This new master Vampire Janek Skorzany was remarkable in that he came to London alone, with no Acolytes or Fledglings in tow, and had given not only Defenzles the slip but had evaded Hades Divisions attempts to catch him.

Fortunately Straker had already established Skorzany had ten crates with him when he arrived in London, he had lost one in Limehouse to Defenzles, but six were delivered to an address in Whitechapel which Straker referred to as a "Vampire Safe house" and three others remained unaccounted for.

Straker received fresh information confirming one crate was being delivered to the safe house this afternoon. He believed Skorzany would be in this crate and they would therefore intercept and destroy him before reaching the house.

So the scene was set for the game:

 Two groups of Hunters; Hades Branch of the Police and Defenzles's men, their brief to intercept the crate and destroy the contents before it could reach the safe house.

The Vampire Master would be guarded by a group of Henchmen and more Northern Ruffians. Their job was to deliver his crate to the safe house.

The crate would start at the bottom of the table and leave via the gates in the middle at the opposite end. The Hunters started along the top edge of the table.

All is quiet in the late afternoon sun in Whitechapel.

Local gangland members the Mitchell brothers employed by a "strange, tall pale looking fella with a funny foreign accent" load a box onto a wagon tasked with delivering it to a run down estate a mile into town.

Unbeknown to them forces are already moving to meet them.

To be continued....

We have wild work to do! Final part.

"Hurry Captain Fellows! We must hurry the sun is setting!"

The Captain and the Professor made short work of the rats and charged onto the dockside fully expecting  to meet further resistance. But the square was empty and quiet, eerily so, after the thunderous noise of the fighting during the preceding minutes it had suddenly fallen still and an ominous feeling overcame them.

Fellows looked around and could dimly make out the bodies of both policemen and ruffian types, but no enemies rushed to meet them.

"There is still time! look the crate it sits upon the cart, hurry Captain!"

Both men ran across the square, and clambered onto the cart, The professor began to work on the screws on the corners of the great crate. Captain Fellows drew his hunting knife and began to prize the lid at the opposite end. The wood began to splinter and crack as they worked it loose.

"Wait!" exclaimed the Professor, "The light has gone! we must be ready for him, he will be fast!" He tossed the screwdriver aside, and retrieved  his crucifix which he raised above his head, he began to pray "Oh Might God, protect and deliver us from this Evil"

Captain Fellows gave the lid one final shove and it fell from the cart, crashing to the ground below. He raised his knife and turned to plunge it down into the crate but to his horror he realised it was  empty....

The Professor had stopped praying and was staring into the crate, all he could see was rotten fetid earth which lined the bottom and the faint imprint where a body may have been laid.

"This cannot be, how could he escape us again?"he exclaimed, sinking to he knees, his mood changing from one of triumph to one of despair.

"I don't understand" shouted the Captain, how could he have left the box before sunset?"

"He didn't" replied the Professor who had regained his usual composure, "He was never in it, it must have been a decoy, the real crate carrying the Master Vampire must have been dropped off earlier at some other destination along the river, he has tricked us again!"

The End.

Or is it?

To be continued! :)

We have wild work to do! ...Part two.

Professor DeFenzles and his team raced against the sunset and the crowed streets to get to the wharf, it was getting dark already...

Across town at the docks the Northern ruffians had already taken possession of the strange crate and took up defensive positions as it was loaded upon a wagon ready for transportation to destination unknown..

Two of the ruffians move forward anticipating the arrival of the Professors men and begin firing. Panic ensues as gunfire is heard on the streets of the Capital. One of the Professors men goes down straight away, luckily there was a Dr in the group who immediately went to his aid.

On the other side of the table Inspector Abeline arrives and his men encounter a brute with a shotgun:

The fighting gets vicious, the Policemen and ruffians enter into a massive brawl around a brewers wagon with both Inspector Abeline and the Ruffians leader Big Jim Bibbly entering the fray:

On the other side of the square it comes down to close quarters fighting as well. Expert swordsman Colonel Richard Fitzerwell dispatches gang members with ease, before being shot by jack Atlantic:

The fight goes well for the Professor and Captain Fellows and they manage to force their way through the melee into the dock square

Only to be confronted by the sudden appearance of a huge swarm of rats which appear to be protecting the crate.

The rats immediately swarm towards them.

The last rays of the sun were beginning to fade.....

"Hurry Captain Fellows, we must hurry, the light is almost gone!"


To be continued..... ;)