map of the black chateau so far

Respite

The manservant leads the passengers through the library, into another room, a drawing room. The rooms is slightly smaller than the library onto which it opens, although it can hold all five of them. Going clockwise from the doorway through which they enter, there is another outside window looking out across the battlefield, and flecked with rain from the storm, then a large mirror the same size as the window. Hanging on the wall opposite the window, and again matching it is size is a framed architectural drawing. Below the window, is the same set of unusual controls as beneath the window in the Library.

The drawing is an external elevation of the house at night, with a constellation of stars visible in the sky above it. The house sits on the brink of an enormous lake. This is odd in that there was no sign of a lake in the area around the house, and certainly, there was no lake right against the walls of the house. There is a label below the drawing.

The drawing room is furnished with two angular, white chaise lounges, and three chairs, the same type as in the library. There is a white metal sideboard equipped with decanters of what looks like wine, brandy, and vodka, as well as the requisite soda siphon, glasses and a square bucket of ice. The manservant walks to the side board, stiffly produces a metal tray from within the sideboard and begins to pour each of the travellers a strong measure of brandy. Having passed a glass to each of them in turn, he gives another slight bow, and leaves the room, passing back through the library. If you are a connoisseur of such things, it smells of good quality and offers warmth after the rain.

On one of the chaise lounges, there rests a child's doll. It is expensive looking, and the one of the few signs of personality and character in this ordered, minimal and stark house. You get the impression that even this object, which in a more lived in home, could be cast anywhere when a child finishes playing with it, has been placed here with thought and intent.

The silent manservant returns after a few moments. He places a stack of folded white towels on the low coffee table. On top of the pile rests a folded map and what appears to be a local time bus or train timetable. Having placed this burden down and handing Manny a sealed packed of fresh bandages, he once more departs the drawing room, leaving the bus passengers alone once more.

Richard takes the glass with a smile and a nod, sniffing it to confirm that it is indeed brandy, not some local concoction that you could no doubt strip paint with (remembering one time in Russia when he was all but temporarily blinded by a liquid that clearly was not the vodka he'd been expecting). Having drained the glass, and feeling the warmth gradually seep through his body, he places the glass back on the tray and walks over to take a peek at the strange dials and controls, before noticing manservant bringing the towels in.

Richard's knowledge of things mechanical and technological suggests that this might be some sort of fancy control for polarising the window. The wall is thick enough to contain the system of recessed lighting that would be necessary. It would allow the windows to be changed from transparent, to dark, and potentially to a reflective mirror. If the windows could be controlled together it would explain why the lights had not been visible as they approached the house. Perhaps they were lit, but the windows simply polarised in the wrong direction.

Or the butler had been sitting alone in the dark before they arrived.

"Ah, thank you" he says to the manservant, as he takes two towels and walks over to Manny, offering him one.

"Mind if I take another look at that bump of yours? I can redress it now we're out of the dark and rain."

Manny allows Richard to look at his wound. As he is being tended to he drinks the brandy and voices his concern.

"I am thinking that perhaps our friend [meaning Kurt] is right. There is something strange afoot. The servant is a monster of some sort, and where there is a monster there is often a master."

Once Richard has finished and Manny feels more himself again. The daze and fuddle of the injury have been alleviated. He springs to his feet and walks to the window. Addressing the group, he says:

"I was once a master of monsters myself, a beast more ferocious than he I should wager. The African lion. It is a simple thing to control a beast if one remembers a golden rule. Never should you trap the beast and never should the beast trap you..."

Manny taps the glass of the window in an attempt the gauge thickness, The glass of the window reverberates solidly under Manny's tap. It is thick and well fixed in place. Then he walks back to the drawing room door and checks that the route back out of the library to the hall is still open. The way through the library to the entrance hall is clear. The large open doorways between the rooms make it easy enough to see from one room to another. He then adds, melancholically,

"...It is when you are cornered that there are problems"

Kurt says to Manny.

"Steady on friend, I never said the chap was a monster. I was just remarking that anyone who lives in a place like this is going to be a mite strange. And then some."

He then moves to take a closer look at the picture with the house and lake. The label underneath the drawing reads: Adhemar Grau: Architekt and Schwarze Wohnung. Kurt's no art critic or student of architecture, but it's not the best drawing he's ever seen. From the way the house is positioned against the landscape, it really does look like it is a drawing of this house in situ. Apart from that sizeable lake that sits right up against it, of course. The constellation of stars is not familiar to Kurt. He shrugs non-committally and heads for the drinks cabinet.

"Oh come now," scoffs Hal. "The manservant is no more a monster than you or I. He is simply an unfortunate soul who happens to have an excentric, and elusive, master.

"Besides," continues Hal as he picks up the bus timetable, "if you wish to trap people presenting them with their means of escape is not a good way to proceed."

"I don't think there's going to be a bus coming any time soon. This is probably the kind of place where they get one a week, and we left it back in a ditch remember?" Objects Kurt.

"There is something unsettling in his eyes - deeply unsettling. And as our friend says even if we are not trapped in this house. We are trapped in this wilderness." observes Manny

“Only until lunchtime tomorrow,” replies Hal. “Given our backwater location I think going back to town is our best option. From there we can make what alternate arrangements are necessary to reach our respective destinations. I’m sure our host will offer us a bed for the night, and once we are rested, warm and dry we shall be able to view our current circumstances from a more balanced perspective.”

With Brandy warming his belly and the harsh weather firmly locked outside Hal is beginning to enjoy himself. Although their situation is reminiscent of many horror stories he has read over the years (the ultra-modern architecture of the house is a nice deviation from the traditional gothic mansion). He sees their current situation as odd, but not threatening.

The timetable is byzantine in it's complexity. However, If Hal is reading it correctly, then there appears to be a local service, stopping at all manner of local hamlets and towns. It's going in the wrong direction, back towards the city the bus departed from..

It should pass along the road near here at some point around lunchtime tomorrow.

Richard looks somewhat relieved upon hearing Hal's remark.

"Tomorrow, you say? That is a relief!"

Having finished tending to Manny, he then returns to the dials and controls by the window.

"Hmm, this may explain why we couldn't see any lights from outside, this seems to control the polarisation of the windows."

He looks up from the dials, and unsure as to whether the faces of his companions are blank through tiredness or confusion, adds

"You can use these to darken the windows, and make them so that light cannot escape. You could possibly even create a mirror effect, though I shall not venture outside to test that theory."

"Don't count on it," says Kurt pouring himself a drink. Then to Richard "You sure you know what you're doing with that?"

"Oh, it's been a while since I've seen a device like this, but the layout and counters certainly fit. I won't touch the settings, so don't worry."

Richard dries his hands on the towel once more, before walking over to Kurt and extending a hand.

"Apologies, in all the chaos I didn't introduce myself, I'm Professor Richard Pimms, but please call me 'Richard'."

"Pleased to meet you. Kurt Steinhauer, currently on holiday."

"Pleased to meet you too. Let's hope that this setback doesn't impede your holiday too much!"

"Good to meet you Professor. Well I for one am fascinated by this whole encounter. To find the Black Chateau, fully constructed and out in the middle of nowhere? This is an extraordinary opportunity, I certainly wouldn't want to leave before meeting the man responsible. Besides, I'm really out here more for experience than to reach a particular destination, so all this suits me just fine." adds Roland joining the conversation.

The Black Chateau

A silvery, actinic light suddenly floods simultaneously from all windows on the ground floor. It is in sharp contrast to the dark night, and casts long shadows behind the rain-sodden bus passengers standing outside the house. As their eyes adjust to the sudden presence of artifical light, the enormous double doors of the mansion swing inward noiselessly, despite their weight.

A tall, impassive looking male figure, dressed head to toe in black now stands in the doorway. His complexion is pallid, almost grey and he is completely hairless. He wears a tightly buttoned black tunic and trousers. He also wears small mirrored spectacles, tightly covering his eye sockets. He appears as some modernist take on a butler, or manservant.

Behind him they can make out a white painted two-story room with grey carpeting.

He says nothing, but beckons the travellers with both hands, inviting them forth into the house.

"Mein Gott! This is like something from a horror film." exclaims Kurt.

“Nonsense!!” exclaims Hal. “It just proves what I was just saying.” Hal rushes forward, he notes the oddness of the man waiting for them, but most foreigners are odd anyway. But that persistent part of Hal’s mind wonders why the man was sitting in complete darkness only a few moments before. As Hal approaches the man he extends his hand and says,

“Hello, my name is Hal Apnyo, myself and my travelling companions appear to be in a spot of bother. I wonder if we might use your telephone?”

Manny says to Kurt,

"I think we should worry about what is real, not illusions. The storm is real, the horror show is not. The doors on castors, quick lime in the windows, the albino in the black suit - it is an old look. I've seen better shows in a two-mule carnival. And anyway, what options do we have?"

Manny shrugs and follows Hal. Kurt replies to Manny:

"On the contrary, the look strikes me as modern - like one of those expressionist films the Nazis are so fond of banning. Haven't you seen The Cabinet of Dr Cagliari? I'd agree there's little choice but to go inside but I suggest we keep a close eye on mine host."

Kurt thrusts his hand deep into the overcoat pocket where he keeps his Luger and starts to follow the other two inside...In the doorway of the black house the dark clad man looks at Hal from behind those dark glasses. At first it looks as if he has not understood Hal, and will simply stand there passively and uncomprehending. Then after a few moments he makes a gesture at his throat with his open hand, seemingly indicating that he cannot talk.

As Manny, Kurt and Richard follow Hal into the doorway, the tall figure turns to regard them each in turn. Seeing Manny's head injuries, he slowly nods, then steps aside, gesturing into the house with a sweep of his arm.

The air inside the house is warm and very dry. In sharp contrast, and blessed relief, to the cold and rain of the storm outside. Warm air comes from the metal grates of a forced air heating system set high along the walls near the ceiling. The walls are painted matte white, and the carpets some sort of artificial fibre in a complementary grey

The entry room is dominated by the staircase leading upwards to the second story. A large open rectangular doorway leads through to what appears to be a library. On the wall below the staircase, is mounted a mirror the same size and shape as the doorway to the library. Other than that, there are no decorations in this stark white room. It is akin to an expression of artificality and modernity pressed into the chaos of the former battlefield outside.

The manservant's gesture points through the entry hall and through the library.

Richard takes off his hat, shaking the collected water off to one side as he eyes the dark clad man with slightly hidden suspicion, before stepping into the stark room. He scans the room briefly, there not being much to focus on, but is thankful for the warmth and shelter.

Turning back to regard his companions, he catches the dark clad man gesturing to his throat, and begins to ponder what manner of eccentric would live here. Catching the eye of the mute man, Richard nods politely and smiles, before heading towards the library.

Richard isn't very familiar with Modernism, indeed his knowledge of recent artistic movements is limited to the occasional article in the news papers. His focuses lie more in the past.

There's not a chance, that he would want to live somewhere like this, a home should be inviting, a place to relax in. These sorts of places are not meant to be lived in, they're statements, where dwellers are as wanted as dust is on a painting. Kurt has a similar aversion to the house, although he is more bothered about the surrounding fortifications and detritus of war.

Regarding the modernist aesthetic, he thinks: "I don't know much about art but I know what I don't like, and I don't like this. At the same time I'm not in favour of people as ignorant as myself going around banning stuff they don't like e.g. the current shower of shits running Germany."

For the present, Kurt remains with the group, while observing mine host as closely as possible without making it look as if he's staring at him like he's an exhibit in a freakshow.

Manny doesn't have any full formed opinions about modernism. It is unlikely he knows what it means. He is deeply distrustful of the modern world, of progress and any attempt at demystifying the passions and the horrors of existence.

He has no time for architecture, and fails to understand the fascination with bricks and fences, or the longing for a fixed and confining home that exists amongst settled people. He has always been a traveller and as such would not want to live anywhere for too long, let alone this stark monstrosity that attempts with steel and glass to blank out the depths of the human soul.

He tries to fix the butler with a cold stare, to see if he can judge the subtleties of his mood as Manny used to do with lions. Manny's stare is reflected back at him in the tight dark glasses the manservant wears. For all the strength contained in Manny's gaze, the butler does not flinch or back down. He appears to hold the gaze, cutting through the small crowd of people gathering in the entry room, or moving through the Library. It is as if he is simply waiting for Manny to finish.

Roland is familiar with Modernism through friends and general talk back home. He's conflicted by it. Although he appreciates the progressive feel of it he leans more towards nature and ideas of the rugged outdoors, which are at odds with modernism's mechanised, ordered feel. A house like this, possibly filling the role of cabin in the woods does appeal. He's making mental notes of things he might want to incorporate when work on the new place starts.

After looking around with evident interest Rolands turn to the manservant and says:

"This place is amazing. Those guys at the architectural society dinners will choke on their soup when I tell them about this. Is the man of the house around? I sure would like to talk to him. Name's Roland Drew by the way."

He extends a hand.

The manservant does not take Roland's hand. Instead he holds Manny's gaze for a moment longer before turning to face the actor. He moves somewhat stiffly, turning his whole torso. He bows slightly, inclining his upper body forward a few degrees in a gesture of silent deference. Roland cannot be sure if it is a nod, or in recognition of the famous name.

He gestures forward through the library, indicating that the group should head further into the house. Now that all of the group are inside the house, he sees to the door. Pulling it firmly shut, and silencing the storm outside.

On one wall of the the L-shaped Library, high windows look out over the blasted and unwelcoming landscape outside. The storm lashes against the windows. The windows appears to be thick, polarised glass. Beneath the window, a small burnished steel dashboard mounts three Bakelite dials.

On the other walls, white metal shelves hold row-upon-row of books. At a glance, many of the titles are in German, but there are others in French, English and other more obscure languages. Two modernistic metal chairs, neither of them particularly inviting or comfortable looking, complete the furnishings.

Richard seems to spend great portions of his time and career scouring books and papers in libraries both public and private, in England and Russia. It was within a private collector's library in Saint Petersburg, access to which had been a particularly tiresome task to secure, that he found the diary of a member of a Khlysty sect visited by Father Grigori Rasputin, detailing how Father Grigori joined briefly and partook in their decadent rituals, before persuading certain members to leave with him and form a separate sect, one that focussed more heavily on the decadence rather than the salvation, and to look not to the clergy for guidance.

The diary went on to describe in unrivaled detail the early stages Rasputin's occult involvement, and whilst difficult to verify, enabled Richard to request his superiors for permission to delve further.

Hal is no fan of libraries. People get to read his books for free!?! Outrageous!! Kurt feels, that Libraries can be useful for research. But the most important thing? The football results. Hertha Berlin? Sehr Gut!

One shelf at chest hight, devoid of books, holds nothing else but a sculpted dark grey diorite hand. On it's ring finger is a substantial gold signet ring.

Richard wears a simple gold ring on his left ring finger, which he subconsciously turns around his finger during moments of contemplation or stress. Age and a largely sedentary occupation have led to his fingers becoming slightly chubbier around the ring, while the ring preserves the small part of what he once was all those years ago, with her. He has never for a second contemplated trying to remove the ring.
Neither Kurt nor Hal wear a ring. Hal pawned everything of value to finance this trip, though in general Hal is not the sentimental type.

There are two other exits from this room. Both are large open doorways of the same size as the one from the entry hall. One seems to open onto a drawing room, the other onto what looks like a gallery. The manservant's movement and direction seems to indicate that he wishes the bedraggled group to head towards the drawing room.

Having looked around the room, and curious as to the books on the shelves, Richard becomes very aware of the manservant's gesture, polite yet insistent. Not wanting to offend, Richard walks through to the drawing room. Of course, Hal and Kurt follows the manservants gesture, Kurt cautiously.

We look to be a ragged bunch of drowned rats, Richard thinks to himself as he straightens his overcoat and attempts to cajole his hair back into something resembling a side parting, I only hope we haven't ruined anything priceless by trailing mud and rain water! Kurt doesn't think they look very impressive but he's not overly bothered. The house owner's a weirdo who lives in a modernist bunker in the middle of a battlefield. What's he going to look like to me?

Hal's assumption is that he will simply look English.