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Mission Notes and Newspapers

Clockwork Soldiers Sold at Auction posted:

At an auction held by Kirin Jindosh, the Grand Inventor offered for sale two of his latest contraptions – marvelous Clockwork Soldiers the likes of which have never been seen! The mechanical wonders sold after fierce bidding for an astonishingly high price! Never before has the wealthy class been able to protect themselves and their holdings with such vigor and style!

Prior to the auction, only the likes of Duke Luca Abele and more recently our new Empress could enjoy such protection. Having seen a demonstration arranged by the genius natural philosopher himself, I was witness to what his Clockwork Soldiers can do! Woe to any trespasser or villain who crosses their path! I dare say Kirin Jindosh has discovered a way to end crime altogether!


Unfinished Letter to Captain Ramirez posted:

Low Chaos

Captain Ramirez,
The squad got together and decided not to kill the lab dogs like you ordered. I know it's too late for them and that they'll die anyway, but even getting close to them is risky. Also, what are we supposed to do with the carcasses? They'll attract bloodflies before the next shift is over.

Speaking of which, can't the Duke send another crew to flash-smoke the bloodfly infestation? It's bigger every day. I know, the doctors here use bloodflies to make Addermire Solution. Why can't they invent an elixir made from field mice instead? I'm sure it would sell better with a cute little mouse on the label instead of a disgusting insect.


High Chaos

Captain Ramirez,
The squad got together and decided not to take the matron’s body down like you ordered. She hung herself a week ago now, and who knows how many bloodfly larvae are waiting for us in there. She was a good woman, but it’s just too risky. No one is paying us to take care of infested bodies.

Why don’t you ask the Duke to send one of those crews to smoke-flash the nests? We’ve got more bloodflies every day. I know, the doctors here use bloodflies to make Addermire Solution. Why can’t they invent an elixir made from rat guts instead? Easier to keep caged rats on hand, and less chance of getting stung to death by a swarm of disgusting insect.


Safe Code posted:

Some of Doctor Hypatia's odder patients are occasionally carrying items that are hard to classify for storage. So I've put them in the office safe, off to the side of the main entryway. The combination is [three digit number].


Letter to Lieutenant Valiente posted:

Dearheart,
I keep thinking of what you told me. If it's true, if that's really what you saw. I just can't bring myself to believe it, even though I trust you entirely.

I know Duke Luca is a despicable person, but him using that monster for his political agenda? Please, I beg you, don't be rash, I know you want to resign from the Grand Guard, but I fear for your life as long as you're in Addermire. Don't send that letter yet, don't talk to anybody about what you saw, at least until you come back home and we can discuss it with clearer heads.

Please stay safe. I'll be waiting to hear from you.

Your Matilda


THE SILVER SPIKE – We demand the cure! posted:

As the "Bloodfly Concern" gets worse, we're all waiting for a miracle cure. The question is, how many more have to die in agony!?

Addermire Solution is good for miner's woes. Enriched, it's been used to treat bloodfly fever with some success. And Dr. Alexandria Hypatia has stated publicly that she could improve the formula. So where's the cure? What happened?

Let me tell you: Duke Luca Abele shuttered Addermire Institute with Hypatia inside! She's a prisoner!

There's only one explanation for this: It's quite plain that this precious remedy is not available to anyone but the Duke and his circle of rich cronies. It's my opinion that they intend to whittle down the impoverished to a manageable few! The Duke drinks copious amounts of Hypatia's cure while the rest of us perish!


Journal - Corporal Valadez posted:

It's been six months now since I came to Addermire on permanent assignment. I'm not sure it was a good idea anymore. At first I enjoyed the isolation because it allowed me to pretend that I’d left my past behind me.

But now I catch myself singing just to break the silence. I sniff and inspect every bite before eating. When I shower with water from Addermire's reservoirs, I don't feel clean. It's as if disease is in the very walls.

So many sick people have come through here, for years! And not only carrying germs, but suffering maladies of the mind. Those kinds of things leave a mark on a place, even after the particular smell, and look at you like you’re just a pile of organs.

I'm probably sick already, having breathed this cold, wet air for so long. It's hard to believe people used to come here to get well.

Addermire feels like a tomb now.

Maybe I'll go keep watch on the roof deck. Enjoy the sun while I can.


Unsent Letter to Family posted:

To Emma, Philip, and little Edgar,

Things haven't changed much since my last assignment at Addermire. Excepting I report to a different fellow now, and he's twice as strict.

It's strange because there ain't really nothing [sic] for me to do. There's the doctor, but she just stays in and does her research. Maybe they need guards owing to the strange noises I hear at night. Not the usual creeks [sic] and groans a building makes. I feel any minute I might come around a corner and see something awful.

But I don't want to worry you. I'll be back in a few days. Buy yourselves a nice fat chicken when you get this letter.

Be good,

Father


Last Entry in the Matron's Diary posted:

I've been "dismissed."

That's how they put it, like I'd just brought the tea, and I could take my leave. And me, the fool, thinking I'm getting an afternoon off for a change. I says, "Grand! I'll see you early in the morning." Oh, my face turned a shade of crimson when they said I was never to return. Never! No explanation, and I'm not even allowed to see the good doctor.

I must have done something awful to deserve such ill treatment, but what? Didn't I always support Hypatia? Didn't I do all she asked? I was her other set of hands, her own words! I've been trying to recall what it was I could've done that was so wrong.

I did leave that vial of medicine on the counter, and it got spoiled. But that was over a month ago, and Hypatia didn't seem the least upset by it. Now I think she must have been ever so disappointed in me, but perhaps too sweet to say anything to my face about it.

All that work left to do. I'm too distraught to write anything more.


Orders from Captain Ramirez posted:

Dr. Alexandria Hypatia won't be working in her office today. She'll be in the Recuperation auditorium instead, which is locked. She's not to be disturbed. If anything urgent comes up, I'll leave Dr. Hypatia's key in her office.

Another thing: The janitor Hamilton is to remain in Disease Treatment until I interrogate him and decide on his fate. We've got him locked up in the little plant conservatory there. No one is allowed to speak to him or even enter that room.

Captain Ramirez


Letter from Duke Luca Abele posted:

My marvelous Alexandria Hypatia! Or do those closest call you Alex?

How valuable you are to me! To Serkonos! What would we do without one of our most prominent Natural Philosophers? It keeps me awake at night, worrying for your safety. What if some incurable wretch should attack you? Or what if exposure to one of those hideous maladies you come across proves fatal to you? Where would we be then? Who would we turn to?

So you see, that is why I have arranged for the Grand Guard to keep an eye on your offices at Addermire. For now, indulge me. As your Duke, I recognize your value, and I am committed to keeping you safe!

Most warmly,

Luca Abele,

Duke of Serkonos


Letter from a Journalist posted:

Chief Alchemist Alexandria Hypatia,

I am writing because I am not permitted to visit you in person, thanks to one of the Duke's new decrees, which now fall on the city as frequently as drops of rain. But I will get to the matter at hand.

What is the progress with your research on the latest strain of Bloodfly Fever? Is there any hope for an improved version of Addermire Solution? I'm talking of a remedy that could cure the Fever, instead of just delaying the symptoms. Have any of your experiments proven effective? If so, when will something be available to the community?

As you must know, available stocks of elixirs are dwindling, and people often have to turn to the black market to buy potions at a shocking price. What is your reaction to this situation?

Eagerly awaiting your response,

Wren Mancini,

Karnaca Gazette


Letter to Bloodfly Fever Patient posted:

My sweet Albina,
How good to hear from you! When I left you in the doctors' hands you were so feverish you couldn't even say goodbye. The sting marks, so many of them; just remembering fills me with dread. I'm glad Dr. Hypatia could at least make the symptoms a little more bearable.

Now I don't want you to worry about those awful things you said. Of course you're going to be better, of course you'll survive! The children need you, and how could I go on living without you? Little Benito keeps having nightmares about bloodflies devouring our whole family, so I promised him you'd be back soon, and that no bloodflies would ever attack us again. We baked mulberry biscuits this morning, so I'm sending you a little box of them with this letter. I hope we'll be able to visit you soon.

Please don't give up! I love you more than anything.

- Jeremy


Old Note from dr. Hypatia posted:

Vasco,

Today was exhausting! I expect the flood of patients will be unabated tomorrow well into the foreseeable future. It would be most helpful to me if you set up a triage area.

Send me only the most urgent cases, especially issues of sever bronchial distress, black spittle, festering wounds, or pediatric cases with coughing or serious injury. These I must see right away.

For the rest, could you please handle them personally? I trust your skills as equal to my own.

Alas, I fear we will miss the little "half day off" we discussed. Next month, for certain.

Alexandria


Reminder - Things to Buy posted:

4th Day, Month of Earth, 1851

Vasco,

Sorry to have to send you out again so soon, but I won't be able to proceed until I have the following:

- One large tin of powdered sea salt

- Compounding grease (but not lard, it goes rancid too quickly)

- Rubbing distillates

- Glycerin

- Two vials oil of juniper

- Two vials oil of rose

I know the rose oil is expensive! But it's the only thing for clearing the lungs of phlegm, so what can we do? Maybe we'll plant our own rose garden someday, no?

Wish that I could go fetch them myself.

Alexandria Hypatia


Vasco's Diary - Month of High Cold, 1850 posted:

Alexandria's new serum must never leave Addermire, and no one must ever know of our failure.

We tested it on ourselves which we often do, in fractional doses. The night was sheer horror. It's hard to describe the effects on the mind, the frenzy it induced. We were - not ourselves. Alexandria muttered to herself, calling herself Grim Alex, almost as if she had a total shift in personality. I cannot commit to paper all that occurred, but I burn with shame remembering the way my perspective shifted, as if my entire morality was up-ended.

The following day, after recovering my senses, I felt better than I have in years. The serum might hold the keys to improved lung function and general vigor. It could even ameliorate the effects of some of our worst fevers and infections.

But the costs are too high. The absolute loss of empathy; the unfettered appetites.

And yet, a week later I watched Alexandria on the terrace below. She was in a terrible way, disheveled, with words escaping her lips that were jumbled and wild. Her movement were unfamiliar.

In the morning I asked if she had tried the serum again. She was most alarmed, assuring me that she would never again touch even a drop of it. She swears that only a sample remains, safely locked away, for future study.


Clearing Bloodfly Nests posted:

Lento,
You're either brave or desperate to accept this job. We used to smoke-flash bloodflies with full crews, but the infestations are bad now and the Duke cancelled the funding. So we get rid of nests by hand.

Here's what you need to know to stay alive.

1) If you need to slip past a bloodfly swarm or nest, keep your distance and move slowly, or they'll attack.
2) When the bloodflies are calm, you're fine. If they take flight and start glowing, it's trouble.
3) If you get swarmed, you gotta run away or fight. Smash the bloodflies or burn them. Same for the nests.
4) A bloodfly swarm'll keep coming back until you destroy the nest for that swarm.
That's reallys all you need to know. You'll do fine.
Oh, yeah, another thing. If you find any blood amber in a nest, just keep it as a bonus. But make sure the Grand Guard doesn't see it, or they'll ask for some "urban sanitation tax" or whatever. Good luck.


Sokolov's Abduction posted:

Dear friend,
The Dock Captain just sent word that he spotted Sokolov. Knows his habits. Says Sokolov buys whale blood off the boats by the gallon, to make pigments apparently.

See, you seem to share some interests with the old genius, so why don't you go and invite him over like we said? The sooner the better.

He's probably staying on a boat in the bay, I trust you'll be able to follow his scent. Keep him safe in Addermire. Don't hurt him, or he will be useless for our plans.

If you're hungry though, the Dock Captain has served his purpose, and his second in command recently did me a favor.

Luca


Counter Serum Notes posted:

This time, it has to work. I'm certain the dosage is right. And I will only have one chance.

- Grind all the solid ingredients together, including the aluminum salts.

DONE

- Add some egg whites (they should have some in the kitchen, but I'll have to be discreet).

DONE

- Two weeks in my safe, away from daylight, should be enough for the serum base to activate.

- Add half a syringe of tainted blood taken from an infested human corpse. If Dr. Hypatia was in her right mind, she would probably object to this step. But since the Grand Guard put Addermire under lockdown, several men have died, killed by bloodflies. They might as well serve the greater good. All the previous blood samples seemed promising. I'll need to avoid being seen again by the janitor.

- Heat the final mixture.

- Inject as soon as possible.


Hamilton's Diary posted:

This time I'm sure, I saw it. I saw, well, I don't know what or who it was, but there was someone, some hooded creature. Dragging some bloody thing along the corridor. I'm not sure whether its prey was another dog or one of the guards. Not sure which I'd prefer. Those bastards have been mocking me for months now, saying that I lost it and that Dr. Hypatia should lock me up. Captain Ramirez said it's all in my head and that I'd better stop spreading rumors

Dr. Hypatia didn't say much when I first mentioned the half-devoured dog, found in Recuperation. Is she protecting someone? Dr. Vasco looks most suspicious to me. He hasn't even left Recuperation for weeks now. And last time I saw him, he was drawing some rotten blood from the body of the guard who got stung to death by bloodflies. I'm no doctor, but I know that this is not part of the Addermire Solution recipe that Dr. Hypatia invented.

Anyway, if nobody will listen to me, I'll have to track the monster down myself. I'll set up some traps and keep watch every night, until I find out what is going on here.


Diary of Professor Bracamontes posted:

13th
I was very much surprised Professor Lignon presented me with a gift. Our bitter rivalry has been most vexing lately. Perhaps it has vexed him well, hence this little peace offering. Yet as gifts go, it seems wanting - a bit of bone with scratches on it. Though I suppose, given his area of expertise, he believes it suitable. So for now I'll withdraw my complaints to the head office.

15th
I've become most fascinated by the bone trinket Lignon gave me. I see now those scratches are really letters of some kind. Quite exquisite actually! I have detected the slightest bit of warmth emanating from the thing, and am most intrigued. But the evening grows cold, so I'll continue my observations tomorrow.

20th
I've cancelled classes for the day, as I've taken on the most aggressive chill! How I shiver! My one comfort is Lignon's little gift. When I hold it in my hand I feel such warmth from it!
Tomorrow I'll go to Addermire Institute, maybe spend a week there. If my health permits it, I intend to write to Lignon to express my gratitude.

28th
Doctors are stumped of course. Fools. No I will not drink their foul tasting medicine! My little charm will protect me from this confound chill. Even now it seeks to warm me. Why it's almost too hot to hold! Lignon has been named Headmaster. I must write and congratulate him, and will do so as soon as my fingers feel thawed!


Lore Books

Beyond Black Spittle, By Ungar Poltomy posted:

A Complete Listing of Symptoms due to the Inhalation of Airborne Debris

Any of the following symptoms can be observed after sustained exposure to mining dust, alone or in combination:

Coughing, Sneezing, Neck Complaints, Necrosis of the Eye, Insidious Deficiency, Pleurisy, Lung Purge, Miners Ear, Black Spittle, Black Vomit, Confusion, Pneumonia, Lack of Appetite, Excessive Appetite, Tremors, Bartholomew's Rigor, Apoplexy, Death.

Should any of these be present, as a prescription I recommend a full Change of Air, followed by a month of leisure along the coast. Use suction to remove dusts and debris from the nose and ears. Apply boiled onions and flax to the chest. These remedies should bring some relief, especially when used in conjunction.


A Lecture on Bloodfly Fever posted:

TRANSCRIPT OF A LECTURE GIVEN AT THE ACADEMY OF NATURAL PHILOSOPHY BY DOCTOR ALEXANDRIA HYPATIA:

Direct Attention to Chart 7

Here you have the final stage of the bloodfly infection. This patient is 37 years of age, and was a school headmistress before her unfortunate encounter with a large nest in her deceased uncle’s greenhouse. Note the lesions on her face and arms, and the larval swellings throughout the body.

But what the drawings cannot show you is her demeanor before death; the most striking symptom of progressed infection is the protective attitude demonstrated towards the nest. This tells us, even prior to autopsy, that larvae, or their byproducts, have infected the intention center of the victim’s brain.

Direct Attention to Silvergraph Image 4

There is no cure once the condition has advanced this far, though you can make your patient less agitated with a generous dosing of opiates. The subject died three days after this silvergraph was taken.

Direct Attention to Chart 8

And here is the fully mature insect, after its post-bloodfly transformation. Now in beetle form, note it has dropped its wings. It is no longer aggressive, and has many beneficial qualities – especially in the field of agriculture. Without these insects many crops across Serkonos would suffer, leading to loss of yield and a marked reduction in profits.


Vera Moray's Belongings posted:

2nd Day, Month of Seeds, 1810

Gus,

Seems like our VIP guest, Mrs. Vera Moray, has finally flown 'round the bend. She's been sent to the Critical Observation area, getting cold showers every three hours and the like. I heard one of the doctors say she might have contracted some nameless disease on an expedition to Pandyssia. Another eccentric aristocrat, trying too hard to live a life beyond us ordinary folk.

Anyway, some of her stuff was still in her room, so I'll store it all in Lost and Found down in the basement, until she's sent back to her husband. He's in for a nice surprise, considering how she spends her time now talking to herself and carving obscenities into pieces of bone. Just remember to give everything back to her when she checks out.

Imelda


Vera Moray's Diary posted:

12th, Month of High Cold, 1810
My physician says I should keep a journal. Says it will do me good to reflect on my ways and deeds. Says that the mark on my hand is just a tattoo or blemish from birth, and that the black-eyed boy is only in my head. Pshah! Bunch of fools. I found where the administrator keeps the whiskey. Snuck a bottle to my room, easy as that. I think I could stuff a whale under my jacket and dance the gavotte and they'd never notice. What would my sweet physician say about that? Or my dreary old husband? "Oh my, Vera, what have you done now?! Mumble, mumble. Appearances and what not!"

16th, Month of Hearths, 1810
I must get home to my collection of carved bones. Such pretty things, brought all the way from Pandyssia. How warm they feel in my hands - there's power there. Something I could learn to harness. That's why I've been trying to be a proper "lady" again, with clean nails and a perfumed handkerchief. My physician says if I'm still behaved by the ends of Hearths, that they might send me home! So I smile and curtsey. And I ask for tea in the afternoon. Comb my hair. Drink my medicines. And I stopped trying to bite the attendants.