Part 4: Death (and Love) in a Gondola

As the investigators disembarked the train at the Venice station they noticed a pair of women in fancy black dresses. The younger of the two had red puffy eyes, as if she'd been crying recently. The women are intercepted by six men, a pudgy man in a suit, and five youths in black shirts. The man tries to get the women to follow him to his boat, but the women seemed reluctant to go with him. Another man, dressed in tattered clothing, could be seen pushing through the crowd towards the group. The investigators realized that trouble was brewing and decided to intervene. Lassovitz and Gareth intercepted the young man and convinced him to leave before he started something that could get himself, or innocent civilians, injured. William and Raechka told the pudgy man that they were escorting the women and that their car was ready. The pudgy man started to argue, but the younger of the two women confirmed that the investigators were their escorts. Leaving the pudgy man to fume the investigators led the two women off the train platform.

The investigators offered to actually escort the women to their home, and they agreed. On the way the young woman introduced herself as Maria Stagliani and the older woman as her maid. She explained that she had returned to Venice for the funeral of her father. She also explained that the pudgy man, Alberto Rossini, had been trying to get her to marry him for a long time. He didn't love her, he was just interested in her family's modest fortune. The younger man, Georgio Gasparetti, was the man she loved, but she couldn't be with him because he was poor and deemed not good enough for someone of Maria's heritage.

As Maria and her maid were being dropped off, Maria asked if the investigators would do her the honour of attending her father's funeral. The investigators agreed and Maria gave them the name of a hotel nearby where they could stay while in Venice. The investigators spent the rest of the day checking into the hotel and beginning their search for the next piece of the Sedefkar Simulacrum. The only thing they had to work with was a name, Conte Alvise Gremanci. Eventually they found a family with an ancestor who had that name. The family owned a small doll factory so the investigators decided to pay them a visit the next day.

That night the investigators are visited by Georgio, who found out where they were by talking to Maria. They all went out for a walk while Georgio talked a bit more about what was going on. He mentioned his suspicion that Maria's father had been murdered by Alberto and that he was afraid for Maria's safety. There wasn't much he could do, but since the investigators were going to the funeral Georgio asked if they could keep an eye on Maria.

After a while the investigators decide to head back to the hotel while Georgio heads off to "lie low" for a while. On the way back cries of "Morte! Morte!" ring through the streets. The investigators are startled to see a hysterical woman run around the corner of an otherwise deserted street. The investigators caught the woman and tried to calm her down, with no luck. The woman manages to blurt out something about her husband being attacked by some kind of monster before clamping her mouth shut. The investigators started to figure out what to do next when they suddenly noticed blood seeping from the corner of the woman's mouth. After a moment of stunned horror the investigators grabbed the woman and desperately pried her mouth open to stop her from chewing her own tongue off! Finally the woman collapsed into unconsciousness and the investigators were able to carry her to their hotel where they were able to summon help. With the excitement over the investigators return to their rooms and try to get a few minutes of sleep.

The next morning the investigators saw several articles in early edition newspapers talking about a murder that occurred last night. A man was found impaled on a 10ft iron spike, his throat torn out as if he had been attacked by some wild animal. The investigators were also given an envelope by the desk clerk. The envelope contained a thank-you note from Maria and invitations to her father's funeral.

After breakfast the investigators head over to the doll factory and talk to the two older Gremanci men who worked there. After a tour of the run down doll factory the investigators asked to see the older records. They were shown to a large vault containing all kinds of records piled together in no obvious order. The investigators spent the better part of the day going through the records but found nothing. By mid-afternoon they decided to take a break and come back tomorrow.

On their way back to the hotel the investigators stop off at the police station to ask about the murder, and the woman they encountered the previous night. The police told the investigators that the man had been thrown up onto the spike by someone possessed of incredible strength. Also, although the throat had been torn open there was surprisingly little blood. The investigators were then able to see the woman, wife of the man who had been killed. Unfortunately they don't get much from her except some mad babbling about Satan walking the streets of Venice. Deciding they were done for the day the investigators return to their hotel. When they arrive they notice everyone talking about how the statues at the Basilico San Marco had all wept tears of blood during evening service.

Over breakfast the next day the investigators heard two unusual pieces of information. The first was about a gondolier who had been found dead, completely drained of blood. The second was about the waters in the canals becoming tainted. One person even claimed that a young child had fallen into a canal and became deathly ill. The person claimed the child had contracted the Black Plague. After breakfast the investigators prepared for the funeral that was that afternoon. The funeral was uneventful, until the investigators decided to try and sneak a peak at the body of Maria's father. They just managed to locate what looked like a wound caused by a knife, or maybe a gun, when they were discovered and forced to leave the funeral. As they left they met p with Georgio, who just couldn't stay away from the funeral. After causing a bit of a scene with Maria he was also asked to leave. The investigators decided to share a launch with Georgio and talk to him about the strange events that were occurring. A short while into the conversation Georgio noticed they were headed in the wrong direction. Suddenly the launch stopped at a dock where six black-shirted youths waited with pipes and knives. Georgio offered to take on the blackshirts so that the investigators could escape. The investigators told Georgio it was OK and then pulled out the vast array of guns they always carried with them. The blackshirts wisely decided to back off, allowing the investigators and Georgio to escape on the launch. With the day almost over the investigators drop Georgio off and head back to their hotel.

The next day the investigators head back to the doll factory to continue their search through the records. On the way they noticed that the water in the canals had become black and oily, and that the water smelled more horrible than usual. At about mid-afternoon the investigators finally find what they'd been looking for: several records indicated that the Conte had bought a strange leg, made of some kind of stone or ceramic, from a French soldier. The records also mentioned that a statue in the Palazzo Rezzoniani had broken it's left leg and that the conte had been ordered to replace it. The conte used the strange stone or ceramic leg as a replacement. With this information the investigators were pretty sure where the next piece of the Sedefkar statue could be found. They returned to their hotel and prepared to take a look at the statues in the Palazzo Rezzoniani.

Upon returning to the hotel the investigators were met by Maria's maid, who obviously looked worried. She told the heroes that Alberto had imprisoned Maria within her own home and was planning on finding a priest that would marry them that very evening. The investigators spent some time trying to decide whether they should help Maria or go after the Sedefkar piece. It didn't take long for them to decide to help Maria. On the way to MAria's house the investigators met up with Georgio, who was also heading to Maria's to help. Georgio had apparently had a run-in with Alberto's blackshirt because he was badly bruised all over his body. Getting into Maria's house wasn't easy because of all the blackshirts keeping guard. Fortunately the investigators were able to sneak in through an open window on the second floor. They were taking Maria out the same way when they were spotted and had to make a run for it. The investigators left in their launch just as Alberto pulled up in his. There was a wild chase through the canals of Venice as Alberto tried to get his future wife back. The investigators took a few bullet wounds before they managed to lose Alberto. Once they made sure they were safe Maria and Georgio thanked the investigators for all their help and then made their way out of Venice to start a life together somewhere, anywhere, else.

Still feeling really good about helping Maria and Georgio the investigators made their way to the Palazzo Rezzoniani. The investigators were horrified by what they saw on the way. In several places buildings burned without anyone trying to put the fire out. Several mobs of people roamed the streets, brutally beating anyone they come across before throwing the unfortunate into the black waters of the canal. Finally making it to the Palazzo the investigators broke in through the unguarded front door. The front courtyard of the Palazzo was filled with statues of all shapes and sizes. They must have been brought out to be cleaned, or so that the inside of the Palazzo could be cleaned. The investigators quickly scanned the statues but didn't see any that looked like it possessed the left leg of the Sedefkar Simulacrum. The investigators were about to give up their search when the clock tower in the Palazzo sounded the hour. Several clockwork statues made of stone marched out of a small door at the top of the tower, spun around, and then went back into the tower. The investigators quickly broke into the tower and made their way up the very narrow, and very steep, stairs. At the top the investigators carefully made their way through the clockwork mechanism and examined the eight clockwork statues. Death, an angel, a winged lion, a soldier, an assassin, a rustic lad, and a rustic lass were all searched but no leg was found. Finally, a search of the turk statue revealed that it's left leg was actually the left leg of the Sedefkar Simulacrum. As soon as the leg was touched the automatons seemed to come to life. They spun and moved on their tracks, striking out at the investigators. The leg was quickly pried free and the investigators made their way back to the stairs as the clock mechanisms began to fall apart. Along the way Raechka saw a hideous face looking in through one of the clock face doors. The figure then leapt back and fell over the edge of the clock face platform! This so surprised Raechka that she didn't see the assassin statue come up behind her and crack her on the back of the head. William saw Raechka fall and without hesitation headed back for her. What followed was a mad rush as the investigators desperately tried to reach the bottom of the tower before the entire clock collapsed. After several near falls the investigators rushed from the tower, followed by a cloud of dust, gears, and other clockwork parts.

The investigators stuck around just long enough to help Raechka back to consciousness before heading back to their hotel. The stopped there just long enough to pack up before heading over to the train station to wait for the next Orient Express departure. As the sun began to rise Venice began to return to normal. The waters cleared and the mobs vanished. Police, firefighters and other city workers began to put the city back together. Soon the Orient Express pulled out of Venice and was on it's way to its next destination: Trieste, Italy.