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We picked up where we had left off in our ongoing Savage Krevborna campaign. This "arc" was set in motion by the players' goals: they agreed that they wanted to find a way to revive Rebecca, who was currently in a comatose state in a glass coffin due to a malignant curse. I gave them several options of locales that might have a solution to that problem; they choose to go to Creedhall in hopes of aid.
This was one of those rare "no combat" sessions you sometimes hear about. Although there were opportunities to get into scrapes, the players kept it cool--resulting in a session that was about making necessary connections and doing a bit of site-based exploration.
The Characters
Raoul Carathis, occultist and necromancer
Prioress Catarina Redmoore, prioress of an unsettlingly convent
Doctor Pendleton Torst, rogue anatomist
Events
The characters had arrived in Creedhall and taken rooms at an upscale inn for the duration of their stay while they looked for someone who might help them in their quest to revive Rebecca. They decided on a few avenues of inquiry. Raoul got into contact with the occult underground in Creedhall and had a meeting with Erasmus Feist, the so-called "Golden Magus." Raoul quickly realized he was dealing with a poseur and a fake, and he did not fall for Feist's insistence that he could restore Rebecca...for an extravagant price.
A more fruitful avenue was contacting Merrick Eston, professor of natural sciences at Creedhall University. Eston couldn't commit to seeing a path toward Rebecca's revification, but he did find it an interesting problem and made an appointment to examine the "patient" on the following day. However, as they left Professor Eston's office, the group were keenly aware that they were being followed by a young, malnourished man in threadbare clothes. The trio tried to shake him by visiting the most banal sights in Creedhall, but ultimately they were forced to duck into an alley--where Catarina was able to ambush him, press a blade to his throat, and question him.
The youth's name was Vadim Morello, and he was a student at Creedhall. He had overheard their conversation with Professor Eston, and he had shadowed them hoping for an opportunity to suggest what he considered a better alternative to Creedhall's aid in reviving Rebecca: he told them they should seek the help of Doctor Viktoria Frankenstein, a brilliant artificer whose understanding of the matters of life and death far surpassed those of even Creedhall's greatest scholars. They learned from Vadim that Doctor Frankenstein lived in an isolated chateau on the isle in the middle of Loch Riven.
When their consultation with Professor Eston indicated that he would be taking a slow--perhaps too slow--approach to curing Rebecca, the adventurers decided to rent a boat and sail to Frankenstein's isle. About halfway across the lake, they noticed that something was headed toward their boat under the water. The cause of the disturbance revealed itself to be a sea serpent when its long, serpentine neck erupted from the water. They attempted to sail away from the creature, but it pursued them at a distance. It never attacked their vessel; indeed, as they neared the isle's dock its head dipped below the water.
From the dock, they could see a stone cottage nearby, its chimney billowing smoke, and Doctor Frankenstein's chateau in the distance further up the shore. They decided to head to the chateau, winding their way through the doctor's rose garden. An unusual number of hawks wheeled overhead. However, the estate's iron gate was locked; they debated breaking the lock, but decided to return to the cottage they had passed and try to glean some information before taking that drastic step.
They knocked on the cottage's door and it was answered by a truly strange individual: an eight foot tall "man" whose arms were far too long, wearing a patched priest's cassock and collar and a wicker mask that obscured his face. He introduced himself as Father Prim and invited them inside for tea. Father Prim was disturbingly frank; he explained that he ate Doctor Frankenstein's failed experiments. When pressed about how they should approach Frankenstein for help, Father Prim told them that boldness would impress the doctor--Prim thought they should show some adventurousness and break into the chateau.
Before they left the cottage, Father Prim told them they should regard Doctor Frankenstein as "god" and assume that she was already well aware of their presence on the island. This dovetailed with their supposition that the sea serpent they encountered on Loch Riven had been spying on them in some manner. They returned to the chateau's gate and had the Widow crush the lock.
As they explored the chateau's interior, they kept encountering strange phenomena that indicated that Doctor Frankenstein was tracking their movements throughout her home and was actively messing with them. The pipe organ in the great hall began to play a thundering funeral dirge on its own and a thunderstorm--complete with flashes of lightning and a downpour of rain--erupted in the courtyard when they vocally threatened to vandalize the house.
Viktoria Frankenstein finally made an appearance on the balcony overlooking at pool in the courtyard. The doctor was acting extremely melodramatic, bemoaning the "burden" of her genius and lamenting that people kept coming to her home to beg for her aid. The characters had previously noted that the pool seemed to be incredibly shallow, so when Doctor Frankenstein climbed up onto the balcony's railing it appeared as though she was planning on plummeting to her death. They asked the Widow to try to catch her if she jumped.
And jump she did! The Widow leapt into the pool as well. When the Widow resurfaced, she reported that the pool was much deeper than it appeared and that the doctor had safely swam into a passage hidden within the pool. Frustrated by the doctor's antics, they resumed their search of the house and discovered Frankenstein's laboratory, which was like a wonderland to Pendleton. The lab was vast and had stations for alchemical experiments, mechanical inventions, messing with clockwork, etc. Perhaps most noticeable was the "man" assembled from parts of corpses who was inert on an operating table.
Doctor Frankenstein emerged in the laboratory via an elevator from below, drying her hair on a towel after her stunt in the courtyard. (Raoul animated her project on the operating table as a zombie in case they would need backup.) The doctor apologized for her prank, but assured the group that she had been testing them in various ways to observe their reactions as long as they had been in the chateau. She was actually a bit impressed with the combination of their fortitude, brashness, and curiosity--so much so that she was willing to humor whatever request had brought them to the island.
They explained the situation with Rebecca. Doctor Frankenstein was willing to help, but her aid came with a price attached. When asked what they could give her in return, Viktoria Frankenstein expressed an interest in disassembling the Widow to see how she worked. The group decided that price was something they could stomach, so long as the Widow agreed to the deal under her own free will and that the doctor would promise to reassemble the Widow afterward. Loyal to Rebecca, the Widow agreed and the deal was struck.
Rebecca's body was retrieved from their chambers back in Creedhall. Meanwhile, Doctor Frankenstein examined the Widow's mysterious innards in private. When the time came to revive Rebecca, Viktoria asked Pendleton to assist her in the operation. It was an opportunity for the group to see a true maestro operating at the intersection of the occult and science at work. Doctor Frankenstein was medically intervening to restart Rebecca's heart while at the same time unbinding the curse that kept her in an unresponsive state.
Doctor Frankenstein had no doubts about her abilities--which turned out not to be a misplaced sense of egotism, as she was successful in bringing Rebecca back to the land of the living. At the conclusion of the operation, Rebecca's eyes fluttered open and she bolted upright on the operating table. Her mouth opened and she said--well, we'll have to wait until next time to find out.
