So, that was in May 2022 and we are now in April 2024. It's been a while, but we played a game of
Silver Bayonet yesterday. Doug ex-em4 and I played on-line, using my
Carnevale scenery, which you can see on another thread on the Gothic Horror board.
Without further ado, the Gentlemen of Much-Piddling bring you the main feature,
"Dark Doings in La Serenissima!".
HMS Black Pig, a small sloop commanded by Ronnie Toastrack (1st Lieutenant Veronica Toastrack) had landed the Much-Piddling Troop in a quiet part of Venice, near the Chiesa di San Francesco della Vigna, under cover of darkness.
In a secret meeting in Padua several days ago, the troop, under the command of Major Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (Much-Piddling Hussars) had received orders to proceed to the Arsenale di Venezia.
During this meeting, it was revealed that a sister troop of the Much-Piddlers, the Market Snodsbury Troop, had been dispatched to the Arsenale to gain intelligence on a secret naval project, only to disappear without trace.
The Most Serene Republic of Venice was no more, after the depredations of the French and the Austrians. During the French occupation, Marcel le Fesse (Napoleon’s master shipwright) had taken up occupation in the Arsenale and there were rumours of him working on some undersea design, based on the secret papers of Leonardo da Vinci.
So, here they were, the Silver Bayonet Troop, crossing the Canal de le Galeazze and entering the Arsenale.
Gathering together, Mary briefed the team on their objectives. Find the Market Snodsbury girls and retrieve them and the secret papers they were carrying.
As dawn breaks over La Serenissima, the troopers can see dark wolves prowling, it looks like they are picking over the remains of human bodies. Can this be why the Snodsbury girls disappeared?
Undeterred, the Much-Piddling troop descend from their rendezvous, with revenge in their hearts. Seen here, from top to bottom are Duchess Ophelia Lovett-Behynde the Occultist, Lady Constance Snoring-Cabstanleigh the Sapper, Marchioness Honeysuckle Tossington-Crust, Infantrywoman and Captain Pattie O’Fernyture, the Doctor.
As Patty is attacked by the nearest Dark Wolf, another approaching Dark Wolf metamorphoses into a Werewolf.
Patty dispatches the first wolf and is attacked by another.
As the werewolf advances, some of the troopers climb up onto the railings, to get a better shot. Some shots find their mark, but don’t seem to stop it’s ponderous advance.
Can nothing stop this supernatural horror?
As Patty disposes of a second wolf, the werewolf is poised to attack. Is this the end for the gallant Irish doctor?
But lo, just as the werewolf is poised to rip Patty apart with its vicious claws and fangs, a shot rings out from Peaches Snapcase (Riflewoman the Honourable Verity “Peaches” Snapcase) and the werewolf is down.
More wolves move to attack, but now the Much-Piddling girls are well placed to repel them. Several are killed in a welter of powder and shot.
Duchess Ophelia Lovett-Behynde is now free to advance and discovers the secret orders of the now deceased Market Snodsbury Troop.
Comtesse Marie Antoinette du Bedandboard inspects the grisly remains of one of the Snodsbury troopers.
Commandeering a nearby gondola, Duchess Ophelia Lovett-Behynde, clutching the secret papers, heads back to the Black Pig with the good Doctor and the Marchioness aboard. They have orders to return in the jolly boat to collect the rest of the troop.
Whilst they wait for the jolly boat, Peaches, Mary and Marie Antoinette advance onto the bridge, to hold off the remaining wolves.
“Ahoy, the Black Pig”.
The wolves are brought down, one by one.
As they wait, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley surveys the carnage and wonders where they go from here.