Draconis

The attached letter is a copy of one we received from Aquila, one of the Nosferatu we sent beyond the ShadowCurtain three months ago.  It is the only report we have heard of what is happening in Russia and environs, as theCurtain continues to prevent allUmbral travel and perception as well as communications with our agents in place - if any are still alive.

I suppose that we were already fearing the worst, but what is within these pages made me go pale (thus ruining a perfectly good tan).  I only hope something can be done before it is too late.

I will no doubt hear from you soon.  I await your thoughts on this unsettling news.

Black kisses,

H.

P.S. I’ve heard some disturbing rumours about you and yourCountess having a falling out.  What have you done now?

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Sire, 

I do not know if this message will reach you.  For some nights now I have suspected that they are watching me.  I just hope they don’t know about the mule courier.

In the two months I have been here I have found out much, most of which is as disturbing as anything I’ve ever heard.  Below are my reports on the various areas you required:

1.      THE SHADOW CURTAIN

This mystical barrier, invisible to mortal eyes but all too apparent in the Umbra, encompasses the entire landmass that was known as Greater Russia. In the east it stretches from St.Petersburg southwards to Odessa in the Ukraine; in the south it extends as far as Georgia and Uzbekistan, and in the west all of Siberia falls behind its perimeter.

The level of magical power required to create and sustain such a feat is beyond imagining.  The Curtain blocks ALL astral travel and telepathic communication, and from bitter experience I know that Kindred are physically unable to return once they have crossed over.  My comrade Astrid attempted to cross the border of the Curtain in a van driven by Dominated mortals.  They were unharmed but she was instantly incinerated.  I also understand that this effect extends beyond our kind; I have spoken with a werewolf and a noted sorceror and they are similarly stuck.  The sorceror, Leonid Verenkov, has a theory that the barrier blocks those beings who contain what he calls ‘Shards of Prime Essence’; apparently this energy is what gives Kindred, lycanthropes and wizards our superhuman powers.  I do not understand the theory fully but I have no other explanation.

Mortal communications, such as telephones, are unaffected.  However, I now understand why there has been no contact with our Russian brothers since the Curtain first appeared.  Put simply, none of them survived long enough to use a telephone.  I myself have survived two months only by remaining hidden at all times.  I have never been so thankful for my mastery of the Obfuscate Discipline.

2.      THE IRON HAG

Since 1917, Russia had been ruled by the Collective, a loose alliance of Russian Princes experimenting with a new form of mortal government but still under the direction of Count Radulescu of the Grand Council.  In 1990 we watched in amazement as Communism fell and Yeltsin came to power, and only later did we realise that we had lost contact with the Russian Kindred.  The reason, I’m afraid, is all too simple; and the rumours are all too true.

In 1990, Baba Yaga awoke from torpor.

The Iron Hag is over eight feet tall with hair and claws of pure iron and shares the disfigurements of all Nosferatu.  I have not seen her myself but one of the few remaining Kindred in Moscow not under her power, Dmitri Olyanov, told me of how he has seen her entering the Kremlin late at night to talk with Yeltsin.  Since our conversation I have had no further word from Olyanov.  I fear the worst. 

Upon awakening, Baba Yaga swiftly consumed most of the elders of Russia and consolidated personal control over the entire land.  She then enacted a great ritual that created the Shadow Curtain.  The tales of her power, a command of sorcery unmatched since the days of the Second City, seem to not be exaggerated in the least.

3.      CURRENT ACTIVITIES

For the past eight weeks I have been following up a number of disturbing stories.  It seems that the Hag has set up her minions in command of many of the former Soviet Union’s miltary installations.  I therefore infiltrated one such location, the army base at Livny.

Russian army personnel at this base, and possibly at others throughout Russia, are being subjected to experiments as grotesque as anything we Kindred have ever attempted.  I have seen huge banks of technological devices where soldiers are warped and twisted into inhuman mockeries much like the szlachta war ghouls used by those Kindred with mastery of the Vicissitude Discipline. 

In addition, I sensed many powerful sorceries at work.  In the office of the base commander I found evidence of infernalism and black magic, books of sorcery and certain thaumaturgical artifacts.  I also located a new structure within the base compound, and as I approached I sensed a dark power emanating from within.  I was only able to get inside briefly, but I saw a huge mystic symbol inscribed on the floor and a number of chanting humans.  The stench of rotting flesh and burning meat was evident, though I could not begin to guess as to the purpose of the ritual.

4.      FATE OF THE KINDRED

As stated above, the Kindred of Russia are, to all intents and purposes, no more.  The Princes of the Collective all disappeared in 1990, and most of the ancillae and neonates followed soon after.  Since the Shadow Curtain was established none have escaped Russia to tell of what is happening within, but the few Kindred I have seen are all undoubtedly subject to the will of the Iron Hag.  And those that she does not control she consumes.

I realise now that I am doomed, and rather than meet the Hag, and have her pick the thoughts from my mind before slaking her thirst on my soul, I have decided to meet my own fate in the approaching dawn.  I only hope this message will reach you.  Be warned.

Aquila of Castile