The Early hours of Sunday 3rd February 1923 continued....
A Tapestry of Skin: Crossing the canal again we enter a new cobblestone street. A shadow is cast across a wall, like a nosferatu – tall, thin, bald, pointed ears, hands with long raking fingers. Letty is afraid; it looks so reminiscent of the vampire she swears she saw in the Venice clocktower. Rounding a corner we find the shadow is cast by a gnarled tree swaying slightly in the breeze.
Close to the tree is a tapestry of stretched tattooed human skin (handout #6). The tattoo is a text that tells of ripping apart the weak with lion teeth and claws; tearing flesh from their bones.
A Page from a Diary: We reach the fortress at the heart of the city, but the drawbridge is up. We catch a glimpse of the cloaked figure once more. “Come, come”, he beckons. We follow him, moving east through the city streets. At the point we lose sight of him again a page torn from a diary flutters to us on a sudden strong wind, like the Bora (handout #7). We read of someone who loves the shifting shape of a dancing, golden dream and who writes of heartless ones that gibber in the frozen wastes. We are reminded of the medallion we recently sacrificed to the thing in the lake at Postumia.
Written in the Air: Next we witness a strange visage form in the air and then letters, words and finally whole sentences (handout #8 ). The sentences have a clear meaning for us – the craving for gold, a frozen howl of longing, and a limestone skin formed over a precious object – this is the leg of the Simulacrum recovered from Postumia.
Wedding Band: In an alleyway, a white liquid flows over the cobblestones. One stone greedily absorbs the liquid. Underneath the stone, in a milky pool, is a tarnished silver ring. Cartwright slips the ring onto his finger.
Words of Blood: Ahead, somewhere in the fog, we hear the slithering of scales and the flapping of feathery wings. We step forward to discover a stone statue depicting a griffin and serpent locked in combat. Words coalesce in the air around it, dripping blood. They begin – “Flesh of my flesh”, and tell of a love that devours, and of hatred, power and madness (handout #9).
Happy Day: We go back to find the man turning over cobblestones. Cartwright gifts him the silver ring. The man’s eyes light up with lust and he snatches up the ring. He declares “Now is my happiest day. My wedding day. Let Death be my bride”. As he slips the ring onto his finger, Cartwright can feel the ring on his own finger again; like a spectral version. The man skips away. As he departs his final words drift on the breeze: “Find the One who knows and ask for he who knows the great man’s secrets”.
Unexpected Advice: We bump into a woman with a lolling head who looks at us strangely. She speaks with a monotone voice: "Ask the Tide and name the one you seek by his proper name, and she will tell you where you can find him”. She walks off into the fog. We are bemused. The Tide? Ah, you mean the tied?
The Fallen Madonna (again): We return to the woman tied to the statue of the Madonna. We need to ask for who we seek by name. It takes us a while but then we recall the words of the man who was turning cobblestones. The name of whom we seek is He Who Knows The Great Man’s Secrets. The tied woman informs us we will find him at the entrance to the fortress.
The Fortress: We return to the fortress entrance and this time find that the drawbridge is down. The hooded figure with the skull and the lantern is here. “At last”, he intones and he turns to pass through the entranceway. We follow. We pass a single mirror on the way in. Words are engraved on its surface (handout #10). It tells of mistaking love for power. It ends with – “none of you really love me, for if you did my beauty would consume you. All those who truly love me die”.
We follow the cloaked figure, through doors and gates that open before his approach, moving ever upwards to the upmost turret and out onto the fortress roof. His words are cryptic. He likens the fortress to the mind. He tells us we came here to learn.
The Terrible Truth: The cloaked figure informs us he can impart knowledge for us to keep. “But I warn you”, he says, “you have seen my silent partner”. He shows us the skull he’s been holding. “It could not contain all that I know”. He draws back his hood to reveal a flabby, sunken, boneless face. He has no skull in his head; he carries it everywhere by hand.
He vomits forth words that form an endless black stream entering our minds. He reveals the truth of mankind’s insignificance in the cosmic scale of things. We envision terrifying great and ancient beings slumbering in their vast tombs, waiting through the eons. We receive an insight into mind-bending reality. Secrets of existence. Mankind has no future. We are lost. If we do not return to our beds before dawn we are doomed to walk this fog-shrouded city for eternity – just like the cloaked figure. The bells toll.
Madness and Panic: Cartwright screams and flees. Pierre and Banks cannot remember how they came to be here or why they shake with fear. Ludwig lashes wildly in enraged panic. Outrageous! Hubert and Letty suffer terrible manias. We run as the bells toll. We try to navigate the claustrophobic streets. We stumble. We fall. We pick ourselves up. We panic. We are separated. We run. The bells toll. We reach the station. The train is pulling away. We throw ourselves aboard at the final toll of the bells.
We wake in our beds. We wake with a start from terrible dreams of fog-shrouded streets and tolling bells. Someone is knocking on our doors. It is the night conductor, “Zagreb” he announces loudly. It is 3.10am. The Orient Express has arrived at Zagreb. Our names are on his list of passengers getting off. There must be some mistake we assure him. He shrugs and orders the porters to return our luggage to the baggage car. Striking our names from the list, he apologises for waking us.
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