Lord Anton Dire sat in silence in the great library of his ancestral home, sipping occasionally from the goblet of fine wine that sat near his elbow and staring for long minutes into the fire that blazed in the great stone hearth. He seemed to be considering matters of great weight and all of the servants of the House of Dire knew to give their lord a wide berth when he sank into one of his thoughtful moods. To disturb him would mean courting Lord Dire's wrath and that was too terrible for any of them to contemplate.
Hans had been Lord Dire's manservant for many years now and knew well his Lordship's moods and how to deal with them. He entered the library as silently as a shadow, carrying the day's dispatches on a silver salver, which he placed at the right hand of Lord Dire without a word, then just as silently withdrew. Dire took a few moments to look through the correspondence, most of which was quickly laid aside. One seemed to catch his eye, however, and he quickly opened and read it, scanning the few terse lines within quickly. With a flourish, the Lord of Dire Castle surged to his feet and called Hans' name. The butler reappeared in an instant.
"Yes, my lord?" he inquired. Lord Dire turned to him with a fire in his eyes as bright at that which burned in the heath and a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
"Hans, call Colonel Brukhardt to me at once. The final piece of my plan has fallen into place. Soon all of Europa will know the name of Anton Dire!" The butler bowed and withdrew immediately to summon the Colonel while Lord Dire sank back into his chair and sipped his wine while reading the telegram over once again. Yes, Dr. Reinhardt, he thought, soon the world will know of your invention but not I think in the way you have planned...
Charisma-GR; Fencing-GR; Social Graces-GD; Tinkering-EXC
The hereditary ruler of the tiny Germano-Slavic kingdom of Trevania near Bayern, Lord Dire is a mastermind of the first order. He is a brilliant criminal scientist whose penchant for invention is equaled only by his talent for villainy. He plots and schemes to turn the whole of New Europa into a kind of technological utopia under his benevolent and absolute rule. His wealth and many of his plots are based around the large deposits of radium to be found deep within the peak where his hereditary castle sits.
To Dire, the great majority of humanity is nothing more than cattle in need of protection and the guidance of a superior mind, only a select few are worth to be part of the ruling class that Lord Dire envisions (he is in fact very fond of Plato's Republic). He believes in a certain amount of aristocratic superiority, but also recognizes that accident of birth does not necessarily confer worth.
Lord Dire is a tall and imposing figure of a man, with noble, aristocratic features. His hair is iron gray, as is his carefully groomed mustache and beard. His eyes are a steely blue that flash with brilliance and madness.
Athletics-PR; Education-EXC; Fencing-PR; Fisticuffs-PR; Tinkering-EXC
The good Dr. Reinhardt is the very soul of the brilliant but absent-minded scientist and inventor. His daughter Aileen is his only child and his most precious treasure and the good doctors dotes on her a great deal. He cannot imagine why anyone would wish to use his discoveries for anything other than the betterment of mankind and society and is shocked and outraged to discover Lord Dire's plans for his magnetic ray.
Athletics-GD; Charisma-GR; Comeliness-GR; Social Graces-GD; Tinkering-GD
The lovely Aileen is Reinhardt's daughter in every way. She is the apple of his eye and as beautiful and graceful as her late mother. The doctor dotes on her and she adores and would do anything for her father. Though a proper Victorian Lady, she is a capable rider and better than average tinkerer from the skills she has learned from her father.
Fisticuffs-GD; Fencing-GD; Physique-GD and Health (6)
Villainous shock troopers clad in black uniforms emblazoned with a golden gothic "D". They serve their master without hesitation.
Lord Anton Dire is the ruler of the tiny Europan principality of Trevania; a land with an abundance of the mysterious element Radium beneath one of it's mountains, where sits Castle Dire itself. Lord Dire uses this vast supply of Power to fund and supply his secret plans for conquest. Currently, Lord Dire has created a powerful flying platform, a rival of Robur's Albatross that can challenge even the mightiest of the Bayernese aeronavy. He plots to acquire the prototype and plans for a new magnetic ray developed by Dr. Reinhardt, a Bayernese scientist. The ray will allow Lord Dire to baffle the magnetic engines that provide the motive force for the aeroships, paralyzing the Bayernese forces and making him the unchallenged Master of the Skies!
The dramatic characters become involved in the plot when they are witness to an assault on the scientist and his beautiful daughter by a group of ruffians in the employ of Lord Dire. They are gathered at a train station in Bayern. If the characters are not yet acquainted, they may be traveling individually or they might be traveling together. Shortly after the afternoon train arrives they hear a call for help and see an older man in a somewhat rumpled suit and a young woman being set upon by a group of lower-class toughs at the far end of the platform (a number that the Host feels will be a modest challenge for the dramatic characters).
If the characters intervene - and who could refuse innocents in distress - they should be able to rout the ruffians with little difficulty. The assailants will flee if they are able, before the police arrive to take them into custody. Dr. Reinhardt will be very grateful to the characters, as will the lovely Aileen. The characters will discover that the Doctor is in fact traveling to Munich to demonstrate his plans for his new magnetic ray to the Bayernese government.
Dr. Reinhardt provides the characters with a small practical demonstration of the incredible power of the Reinhardt Magnetic Ray, which has the potential to be a powerful tool in the arsenal of Bayern; if a suitable radium source can be found to provide sufficient power to mass-produce it. If none of the dramatic characters suggest it, Aileen will ask if they would be willing to accompany the good Doctor and her on the remainder of the train trip to the Bayernese capital. They take a 2:00 train from the station and are soon on their way through the rolling countryside.
Dr. Reinhardt's invention is a metallic globe about 50 centimeters in diameter, filled with a complex of wires and coils. The whole device is stored in a steamer trunk the doctor has brought with him. A set of control grips, dials and knobs bristle on one side of the globe. A slim wand projects from the opposite side, wrapped in a thick metallic coil and the whole mechanism pivots on a tripod-like base. The wand serves as the projector for a ray of magnetic force generated by the mechanisms within the globe. The model the Doctor is carrying generates sufficient magnetism to levitate several hundred pounds of weight. Larger models could move literally tons of material!
Similar to Robur's Albatross, Dire's airship is a large platform kept aloft by a combination of gas cells and large propellers. It has several interior decks, with catwalks running between the vast gears and shafts of the mechanical propellers. The ship is controlled from the forward control cabin.
The train ride takes the dramatic characters and their traveling companions through the picturesque Bayernese countryside, allowing them the opportunity to chat amongst themselves and with Dr. Reinhardt and his daughter. The Host should take this opportunity to allow for improvisation and interaction amongst the characters for a time (as long as it remains interesting to the story). Then, without warning, comes the attack.
The train car occupied by the characters is attacked by black-uniformed men with a Gothic "D" on their breasts, carrying pistols and sabers much like pirates. The dramatic characters can attempt to repel these attacks, allowing them the opportunity for some swordplay or fisticuffs.
Just as the characters or their opponents seem to be gaining the upper hand, the train is rocked by a sudden force, and the characters find their entire car being separated from the train lifted off the tracks by a powerful winch and cables attached to the corners of the car by men on the roof. They are lifted into the belly of a massive airship hovering above the tracks, where they become the prisoners of Lord Dire.
After a short but swift flight, the airship arrives at Lord Dire's castle in the mountains. A set of massive concealed doors in the very side of the mountain open up to admit the giant ship into a hollowed-out cavern hangar in the mountain. The dramatic characters and the Reinhardts are brought by a group of soldiers to Lord Dire's massive library in the castle above to mountain complex. There his Lordship greets the characters like long lost friends he has been expecting and invites them to sit down with him as though they were his guests and not his prisoners. He will then tell them why it is that he has brought them to his stronghold.
"You have already seen," he says, "the incredible power of my air-ship. It far outstrips those of Bayern in terms of size and capacity, but it is still vulnerable to attacks from those aeroships as a tiger can be stung by a wasp. But, with the power of Dr. Reinhardt's magnetic ray, I shall be able to strike at the Bayernese aeronavy where they are they weakest! With the magnetic drive of their spell engines baffled, my airship can move unchallenged through the skies and it's power will allow me to conquer any that stand in my way!"
Unfortunately, Lord Dire says, he was planning only on abducting Dr. Reinhardt and his daughter. The dramatic characters are of no concern to his plans and will have to be disposed of. He orders the characters clapped in irons (to limit the powers of any faerie among them) and sealed into one of the chambers of the Radium mines deep beneath the castle, there to suffer a slow death from the baleful radiations of the elements there. He will take Dr. Reinhardt and Aileen aboard his sky-ship to complete the construction of the larger version of the doctor's magnetic ray that has already begun.
The dramatic characters must escape from imprisonment in the radium mines and get past Lord Dire's guard in order to get on board the airship before it departs the hangar. The Host should consider the plans of escape offered by the players, keeping in mind that they are in an underground tunnel sealed with a ton of rock. Magick or the use of faerie powers might be able to liberate the characters, as could the application of technical skill and knowledge. The Host should make escape challenging, but not impossible.
However the dramatic characters escape, they should reach the hangar just as Lord Dire's massive airship is departing. A Great Athletics feat is required for the characters to leap onto the airship before it leaves the hangar. The Host can spice this action up with precarious near-misses that leave one or more characters dangling from guide cables or struts as the ship flies over the craggy mountain peaks.
The characters have to sneak or fight their way past Lord Dire's crew to reach the control cabin of the airship, requiring either Great Stealth or the appropriate dramatic combat. A fight on board the airship could very well damage some of the mechanisms if the characters are not careful.
When the characters confront Lord Dire in his control room, he will be defiant and will order his men there to kill the characters. He will seize Aileen and flee with her through a secret panel in the wall, taking her down a ladder to where he has concealed a balloon that will allow him to escape with the doctor's daughter held hostage. This can lead to a running duel along the narrow ladder and catwalk, high above the Earth. If Lord Dire is defeated, he plunges from the airship and disappears into the clouds below.
Once Lord Dire is either defeated or captured, the airship will begin to plunge out of control, requiring the characters to arrest its fall if they are to survive. This will require Great Piloting or Tinkering ability to make the necessary adjustments. The Host can also allow other appropriate abilities or even magick to enable the characters to bring the ship to a safe landing.
Whether he was defeated or escaped, Lord Dire could return to menace the characters again some day, with some new and terrible plot. Dr. Reinhardt will begin working for the Bayernese government and he will remain a good friend and associate of the dramatic characters. Perhaps they will need to call upon his scientific expertise in the field of Magnetic and Electrical Forces again some day. The lovely Aileen might well have fallen for a dashing dramatic character and could try and pursue a relationship with him or might be inspired by the events of the story to become an adventuress herself that the characters could cross paths with some day.