The Haunted Musician

Thus begins "The Unnamed Victoriana Campaign" later known as "The Victorian Files", hosted by Dan. The players are:

Jeff - Edwin Ingram - Tall slender 27 year old Eldren. Owns Ingram’s and Taylor’s, a gun shop and is a local area hero. Has a doberman pincer named Maxwell.
Ben - Lord Gavin Isaac Whitehouse VI - Very sociable and enjoys a party. Wealthy and fought in a war.
Jess - Sidney - Sensate medium, likes to steal everything
Me - William Hume - "The dapper dwarf", son of a Earl, obsessed with science.
Chad - Father Amorth - Italian Bastard Inquisitor

It's January 1st, 1880.

A lanky black haired man comes to Edwin named Dobins Underwood. He nervously explains that there have been strange things happening in his neighborhood at Barley street by the docks. Each night, a mist descends and an ethereal haunting violin starts playing, and strange figures can be seen in the mist. Eventually it crescendos into a full orchestra, and by morning, all that left are dead dogs, rats and cats that have been all torn up.

Edwin promises to look into it, and suggests that perhaps Dobins should considering buying a weapon for protection. Dobins can't afford it, but having the matter looked into is still nice.

We meet up, and start investigating. Sidney and Edwin check around and find a crazy lady with a bunch of children in tow. She's aware of the strange music, and suspects it comes from around 1279 or 1280.

Edwin knocks on 1278, and is answered by a gruff voice telling him to go away. Edwin persists, but the gruff voice is not interested, and Father Amorth tries a more religious tact, and successfully gets the voice to open up, revealing a bear beastman. Yes, he knows about it, but hasn't seen anything.

We skip a door, and try 1280. Father Amorth tries the same tactic, and a lady opens the door. No, she hasn't seen anything. Nothing is wrong. Obviously we don't believe her, but she's probably not responsible either.

Most likely the source is 1279 or 1281, so we try 1281. No answer at the door...and then, a mist descends upon us. There is something ancient and dark about it. The door isn't locked, so we open the door and step in. The mist swirls in around us, as if alive with a dark purpose.

The house is old, and we can hear the music coming from the floor above us. As we make our way up the stairs, the mist dances and shadows dodge in and out of sight.

Father Amorth demands that the spirits show themselves, and in the back of the room, we notice an emaciated man standing in a senseless black abyss. His suit fits him poorly, and his eyes are glossy and bulging. He suddenly stops playing and lets out an inhuman scream. A very large creature with a formless face and rotten yellow fangs comes in from a room behind us, tumors jiggling like melons and attacks.

The room is crowded, and getting a clear shot is difficult, so we struggle to contain the creature, while Father Amorth touches it with cold death. In the process, Edwin is knocked down, but Father Amorth's magic does it's work. The creature's tumors grow larger, before exploding into a soupy mess, splattering us.

Using Lord Gavin's flask, I take a sample of the ooze left behind. For a brief moment, Father Amorth looks slightly older, but it passes.

The mist is gone and so is the black void that surrounding the violinist who is now babbling nonsense. Sidney tries to take the violin, but her eyes bulge and she stops herself. The old man is babbling names now... "Kevin Maggie Hunter", and "Edward Miller".

Edwin touches the old man, but he does not react. We search the room, but find nothing important.

Lord Gavin, Edwin and I depart home. Father Amorth and Sidney take the old man to a nearby church, where perhaps he can be healed. A constable stops them, but they continue on.

The old man is put under guard, both by one of the clergyman and by a constable who shows up with a guild member. The Church and the Guild don't get along together, so the guild member is denied access.

A translator is brought in, and it is determined that the frenchman was working as a bookbinder and in a pawnshop.

Morning comes, and Edwin visits Dobin, who mentions that a commotion was heard over by Louis LaBelle's house. That commotion was probably us, and that's probably our Frenchman's name. Edwin sees a zeppelin overhead.

Messengers arrive for Lord Gavin and I, mentioning that we are invited to a ball being hosted by Prince Charles that night. Such short notice.

I meet up at the church with Lord Gavin, and go up where the frenchman is being held. We investigate the violin, but find nothing useful.

Later, Sidney and Edwin arrive, with Father Amorth only shortly behind. We try to stir the frenchman out of his madness, but no such luck.

Lord Gavin and I go to the tailor. It's very important to stay fashionable, especially when one is invited to a royal ball.

Sidney suggests to Father Amorth that they look for pawnshops in the area, and they find one owned by Kevin and Maggie Hunter. Perhaps a violin was sold here? Yes, Roger Smith bought a violin here two months ago. Who else? Louis worked here, and bought one and then immediately quit his job. It's very strange, since he never had a job before this.

Perhaps the other name is important, so they locate an Edward Miller and his bookship. Yes, Louis LaBelle worked here, but he wasn't reliable and was bad with dates when transcribing.

Edwin arrives at the pawnshop soon after, and asks after the violin as well. Where did this violin come from? Samantha Paine sold it to the gnomes? Ah, her father was part of the royal symphony and he went insane, so she sold it.

Satisfied, and perhaps even a little smug, Edwin goes back to the church.

Lord Gavin and I finish up at the tailor, so we swing by Ingram's and Taylor's to see if Edwin's assistant has seen Edwin recently. No, not recently? Very well, if he comes by, we'll back by the church, but not until after we check out this Edward Miller name...

Eventually we managed to all meet up again, and determine that Samantha Paine lives over by Essex Way in Upper London. We head there and find a large townhouse.

We knock, and notice a young lady in her early twenties peering from behind the drapes. We managed to convince her to talk to us, but don't find a lot about her father's situation. I ask about her father's violins, but he has several, and sold them to different pawnshops.

Sidney senses mediums and detects Samantha's departed mother. She says she was killed six months ago, the night that Richard got the violin.

We attempt to convey these facts to Samantha, but she is not interested, so we leave, heading back to the church...