Table of Contents
Agenda for the Royal Society
Journal One The Gypsy Curse
Journal Two The Magi of Liverpool
Journal Three A Fistful of Dandies
Journal Four The Kraken of Ballybrack
Journal Five The Village of the Damned
About the Author
Book Description
The Vengeance universe, originally published in several volumes of the Penny Dread Tales, begins here with a young Friedrich Von Helsing, who will eventually grow to fight the supernatural alongside the mysterious Brotherhood.
In the style of Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein and Jonathan Polidori’s The Vampyre, this Victorian adventure follows Friedrich and his band of four friends, as the young scholars debunk the supernatural in 1839. What starts as an innocuous set of adventures studying conmen, mages, Romani curses, and mad scientists leads them down a dark path to true occult.
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Agenda for the Royal Society
TO: All Fellows of the Royal Society of London.
RE: Lost papers of the Fellowship of Adventurer Scholars for the Revelation of Mythology and the Advancement of Natural Philosophy.
BY: Sir Thomas Middleston, Fellow
Submitted and distributed this 3rd day of June, 1903.
As we, The Royal Society, grow wiser with the times, we must review the import of papers submitted over the course of this last century. The rationale for this assertion is the simple fact that knowledge is forever in a state of flux; none may master knowledge, for it is not a thing with a shape, but rather an evolving creature such as was suggested by Mister Darwin. As the years have progressed, so too has our collective comprehension of the natural world. Thus, it stands to reason that we are presently capable of a quality of evaluation which is greater than that which would have been previously provided. This is due entirely to the success of our stated endeavor, and the direct result of countless efforts in the matter of advancing and improving Natural Knowledge.
Having made such advances, it is to be expected that our present comprehension might reveal validity in that which was previously rejected, or falsehood in that which was previously lauded. Therefore, I move that a committee be established to review all papers and submission of a seemingly scientific nature, so as to prevent both the loss of revelation to the ignorance of the age and the adoption of falsehoods for the same reason. For while we see through eyes informed by the wisdom of previous days, we must strive to sift from this wisdom any associated ignorance as well as solutions thus derived.
To this end, I ask that specific attention be given to the papers submitted on behalf of The Fellowship of Adventurer Scholars for the Revelation of Mythology and the Advancement of Natural Philosophy; I present this despite admitting to some uncertainty as to where best to begin when concerning accounts such as these. It is a universal truth that all stories have a beginning. But it is untrue that the beginning and the origin of the story are the one and the same. Rarely in the crossroads of lives do beginnings reflect origins; rather such origins are oft lost, forgotten in the immutable rush of the past toward the present.
It should therefore be noted that while few men are aware of the exploits of The Fellowship of Adventurer Scholars for the Revelation of Mythology and the Advancement of Natural Philosophy, fewer still are aware of the events which inspired the inception of this collective. In fact, the phrase ‘obscure repute’ may best describe this collective as a whole.
There are few among the Royal Society who are aware of the exploits of this Fellowship; this due primarily to the fantastical nature of those accounts which were submitted to the Society for review and consideration. While it may be difficult for those of us who experienced such events to give credence to these papers, we must at least consider them.
It has been documented that this collective—better known as The Fellowship of Adventurer Scholars, or more simply, The Fellowship—was formed with the intent of invigorating The Royal Society of London. Natural Knowledge must be pursued with an energy of discovery and a passion for expedition. It had reportedly seemed to them that, while the esteemed members of the Royal Society were the bastions of science and knowledge in this modern age, a certain tendency toward stagnation had insulated the Society, creating undue-skepticism and doubt where inquisitiveness, intrigue, and wonder had previously reigned. For this reason the Fellowship acquired few friends within the Royal Society.
Our records indicate that several accounts were submitted by the Fellowship with the intent of garnering acceptance and membership within the Royal Society. It was understood at the time that one Friedrich Von Helsing aspired to chronicle these affairs, and that he did so under the commission of the office of the Fellowship Secretary. What could not be known then, neither by the Society, the Fellowship, nor young Helsing himself, was that future events would soon set upon the mind of this gentleman a perception of petty naiveté amongst those who he so revered.
It is the opinion of this writer that it was that which would erode any interest which he once held in such affairs. From these events, it followed that he would instead distinguish himself as an itinerant scholar of folklore and mythology. (For verification of the above claims, please refer to both the Society annals and Von Helsing’s archived journals as indicated in the End Notes.)
At the time that the Fellowship presented their accounts, none suspected the effect that Von Helsing’s future actions would bestow upon questions regarding the veracity of these accounts, nor upon that of those studies which earned him the recognition and renown with which we are all familiar.
While no member of the Society has yet questioned the intent of their submission, nor the decency with which they were presented, recent revelations have caused some to reexamine these accounts in the event that they may indicate the early signs of either a manic tendency or some other form of lunacy. Some have even suggested that Von Helsing’s complete works, both these early accounts and his latter treatises, be discarded with the same scorn as have the contents of his recent manifesto.
To the contrary, I present to you the argument that these early works be re-examined on the merit of their scientific principles rather than in light of the madness of their author. I argue that we ought
to avoid the hubris of casting judgment upon the contents of these accounts merely because we wish to appease our own concerns and fears regarding the sanity of a once great colleague.
For these reasons, I submit to you a formal motion that the contents of these accounts be examined in light of recent scientific developments.
The Fellowship Journal; First Letter
* Begin excerpts from the field journals of Friedrich Von Helsing, submitted and archived within the Royal Society Library, September 1839.
These being the words of Friedrich Von Helsing, written on behalf of the Fellowship of Adventurer Scholars for the Revelation of Mythology and the Advancement of Natural Philosophy.
Given the primary aspect of the venture upon which my cohort and I have set, I shall endeavor to chronicle our sojourn, not for the sake of posterity, but instead for objective reflection and the subsequent evaluation of our travels. Only through the sober and logical lens of the written word will these travels be quantifiable and subject to the deepest of scientific inquiries.
Being men of science, we are constrained to seek to continue the work of the natural philosophers, whether this exploration be that of the inner workings of the human mind or the outer workings of the larger world. It behooves us to explore the darker elements of the mass psyche and bring the light of reason to such superstitions as have haunted the minds of lesser men for ages past and even unto our current time.
As stalwart defenders of our era, we will arm ourselves for this venture with the principles of enlightenment, and through the process of full disclosure, we will reveal truths thus far unknown. Our rod shall be reason, our staff empiricism.
We will embrace the spirit of the skeptic insofar as it is appropriate, and we will subject each case to the rigors of evidential proof. Should our studies reveal a truth, then this chronicle will serve as a record and firsthand account such that we might best prepare a treatise for the review of our peers. Should our studies reveal a falsehood, we shall take it upon ourselves, as defenders of the defenseless, to shed light upon the villains and reveal them as scoundrels and charlatans.
Journal One
The Gypsy Curse
Entry One
In April of 1838, Cambridge University issued advanced degrees to several individuals of note. This was done in recognition of the completion of their studies and exemplary performance, as well as their keen insights and application thereof to the problems thus presented by the world.
The honorarium was attended at the newly founded Thomas Graham House headquarters of the Royal Society of London, located on the outskirts of Cambridge. Though Graham had been a fellow for only two years, great things were expected of him as a chemist who more than rigorously applied the Socratic Method to his studies.
Among these so laureled were the founding members of The Fellowship of Adventurer Scholars for the Revelation of Mythology and the Advancement of Natural Philosophy. The Fellowship was a bold venture, one which would cast aside such methods which found men of science cloistered in musty rooms, and would instead embolden its Fellows to embrace the very Spirit of Discovery.
Musty rooms could, as some had said, only contribute to the knowledge and study of musty rooms, while the world beckoned from outside the windows, enticing the inquiring mind to dissect and study its many wonders.
While the Fellowship did aspire to become a branch of the Royal Society, it was by no means intentioned to be constrained by the guiding vision of those notable gentlemen; rather, it sought to show that the empirical methods of these great explorers of the mind were better suited for examinations of the natural world.
Founded, as it was, by those more … youthful in nature, The Fellowship embraced travel and exploration. The body of the Fellowship of Adventurer Scholars consisted of Niles Byron, the eldest son to Lord George Gordon Byron; Dominic William Weyland, the youngest son of the noted industrialist Thomas Weyland; William Owen Wilson of the Oxford Wilsons; Rufus Emmerson, whose father had acquired a small fortune as the principle financier of the Weyland Industrial Consortium; and Friedrich Von Helsing, of house Helsing, who was himself second in line to a small barony in northern Germany.
Each of these men were of the highest caliber, as defined by the mind if not by blood, and disciplined with their time and intellect, bringing both to bear on the problems that so willfully accosted the good men and women of The Emperor’s.
While the exact nature of their introduction is unknown, it is common knowledge that these gentlemen shared several interests and associations while attending the King’s College, and that they could often be found in each other’s company. Despite their disparate social statuses, their shared intellectual and literary interests led them to engage in regular symposiums of the true Greek fashion.
In addition to such shared interests, the disciplines which these men mastered contributed greatly to their collective venture, as if the fates themselves had guided their interests toward that which would best accommodate their quest for truth in a darkened world; but perhaps even their philosophies at this time were not sufficient to dream of all the things in heaven and earth. Though the world may be a stage, and the Adventurer Scholars were but players, the ideas they pursued were, to them, the very parchment and ink with which the great playwright scribbled the tragedy of the world.
Niles Byron had, at that time, received his degree in matters of the Law. The discipline which was intended to prepare him for the affairs of his estate had instead provided the Fellowship with the ability to deftly maneuver the many difficulties of the world’s changing political spheres. It also allowed them a certain ease of passage through customs points, for in a world of imperial rule, the force of law could compel compliance more swiftly then could a blade, just as the badge of citizenship could defend better than any shield. And were one to find themselves in such a place as rejected these authorities, then the quick wit of the esquire could be called upon to lubricate the most insurmountable of obstructions.
Simultaneously, the title of Medical Doctorate, which had been bestowed upon both Rufus and Wilson, granted the coterie many tangible investigative insights, as well a certain degree of universal social acceptance. For who does not value the man who can heal all ailments and address even the sicknesses of the soul? Having two such fine exemplars of the field in their company could only further the prestige of the Fellowship and contribute to their study of the human phenomena which so captivated their interest.
It was the analytics and theoretics of Natural Philosophy—obtained by both Weyland and Helsing—which rounded out the group’s skills and provided a firm methodology for what followed. If Byron were to serve as the mind of the group, and Rufus and Wilson the body, then these two men were the incomparable soul of The Fellowship, lending structure to their endeavors and an ethos to their methods.
Such are the qualifications of the Fellowship of Adventurer Scholars. While these points have long been recognized by members of the Royal Society, few aside from the original Fellows can identify the less quantifiable factors which contributed the Fellowship’s limited and marginal success. The first of these has, to date, never been submitted for review as it was not documented in any formal capacity. It was this matter, which occurred in the dark heart of the winter preceding their departure from university, which set the gentlemen upon their fateful and storied path.
Entry Two
It was upon a particularly cold evening in the winter of 1837 that Dominic Weyland abruptly entered the residence of his friend and colleague. His presence imposed upon his collected associates—who were, until that time, gathered around a warm hearth enjoying an evening symposium—and bore with it a nearly instant cessation to conversation. This was not due to any particulars of Weyland himself, but rather to the strong burst of cold air, which struck immediately upon warmth which had been so affectionately fostered by the young gentlemen within.
Shaking snow from his overcoat and boots, Weyland closed the door firmly in an effort to en
d the imposition of the winter wind. Then, with neither pretense nor formality, he declared quite boldly to those who sat within the parlor, “I have dreadful news, dreadful news indeed.”
“What would that be, my dear boy?” inquired Niles, without a hint of interest. He wore a red satin smoking jacket and held within his right hand one his more favored meerschaum pipes. This, he drew from quite steadily as he leaned comfortably against the thick cushioned back of his chair.
It was a pose which spoke volumes to Weyland, for Niles Byron was not one with whom quiet relaxation was often associated. For those who knew him best, such nonchalance indicated a seething frustration, which could often lead to unpredictable bursts of anger. This was not considered by his friends to be a flaw of character. The reason for this was that Niles Byron was understood to be a man of little patience. But little patience and a short temper could not negate the charisma which so brightly shone from the man.
Niles was known for embracing more physical dalliances, such as art of fisticuffs. The smooth odor of pipe smoke wended its way through the parlor, reaching from his position on the opposite side of the room from the door as if in an effort to re-warm the room after such an abrupt interruption. As if in awareness of its competition, the flames in the hearth burnt all the brighter, suffusing the room with a rosy glow and making the shadows behind the men waver, and which set a rather warm and peaceful mood upon the room. It was a mood which was to change rather quickly.
“Do you recall my associate Timothy Woolroy?” Dominic took off his hat, brushing it vigorously to remove the last trace of dampness from the beaver finish felt, after which he removed his coat, carefully hanging it from the rack beside the door.
The Dandy Boys Mysteries (Vengeance Book 0) Page 1