General Kong

Super! 👍 Thanks a million!

Great! Well, if you ask me like this - The Case of the Missing Professor and Guardians of Blasphemous Knowledge would be very welcome.

.

Hi Jeff,

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2018 für you and your family - or auf Deutsch:

Fröhliche Weihnachten  und einen guten Rutsch (a good passage) ins neue Jahr 2018!

All the best!

Thorsten

Well, Hattingen is definately NOT a point you could wind up if you go from Köln to Düsseldorf, if there is not a major re-route because ... well: shape-changing cat-witches and balck scythe-wilding giants team up with headless men and treasure-hiding dwarves to block the way ;-)

But I was honestly more thinking of a side-show adventure. The witch was said to prowl around an old, deserted mill that was a stop to stay the night for wanderers caught by early nightfall. Her undoing was when she met an apprentice who could of her pawn with a knife - and it turned into a hand. Later he came to a house where he was told that the lady of the house lay ill with a fever - surprise: She was ill because she lost her hand.

Granted, it's a "classic" - what is new is that the witch turned into a giant cat and not a wolf or somesuch critter.

But like I said, just an idea that sprung up. On the other hand I also think that it is better to stay focussed with the plot. A random encounter is nice and well, so that the heroes know that not all and the world revolves around them and their adventure, but if the encounter turns into an adventure in itself the plot can be lost. And we don't want that!

According to the old greeting of the Junge Pioniere: "Für Frieden und Sozialismus seid bereit!" - (answer) "IMMER BEREIT!" I say:

Bring it on! ;-)

And I see that you are really getting into my neighborhood: Bergisches Land, Solingen, that's a mere 15-20 miles from me! I actually worked in Remscheid for 7 years and Bemi still lives there. Colour me interested!

Any chance to get Hattingen into the adventure? I have a nice little collection of tales and stories about the supernatural in Hattingen: dwarves, elfs, ghosts, hauntings, apparitions of the devil, shapechanging witches (turned into a humansized cat to kill people), hidden treasure, headless men, Black Hildebrand (giant with a scythe) - the works.

But I don't want to overcomplicate the plot.

Cheers, Thorsten

Hi Jeff,

long time no hear. All going well with the project?

Cheers, Thorsten

Isn't that Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, the writer of "Die Judenbuche"? Looks like her. She had her picture on the old 20-DM-note back in the good old days when we had a real currency.

What people think of the Fuggers?

1. Most people don't know anything about them.

2. I first got to know about them when they had a short TV-series on the history of the Fuggers in the early 80s. Nothing like The Tudors or Rome, but simply good story-telling and very educational. There is a similar one on Wallenstein. Got them both. But as far as I know there has never been an English (or subtitled) version.

3. In the TV-series the opinion about the Fuggers was: Hard work and discipline adn business acumen turned an up-start weaver apprentice into a Meister and his descendants branched out into the mercantile and banking business. They organized the Catholic trade with indulgence documents and made Emperors. Then, after Jakob dem Reichen, they slowly faded back. No "downfall", no total disintegration of a mercantile and banking empire, just a reduction of importance and standing.

By the way, the old "Fuggerei", the houses that Jakob der Reiche built and let needing and deserving poor live in for the ONE GULDEN A YEAR is still there. The rational then: One gulden is next to nothing BUT it is NOT nothing. So people who fell on hard times due to no fault on there part did not have to take alms, they could still say: I pay for my housing! As soon as tehy got back on their feet they had to move out - they project was for the needy.

Rent in the Fuggerei per year is today: 0,88 €! You have to be a Catholic citizen of Augsburg, and you need to pray the Lord's Prayer, the Ave Maria and teh Confession once per day for the benefit of Jakob Fugger and the Fugger family.

Of course, you have to pay € 85,- per month for utilities but 0,88 €  rent per year ( about 1 $) for 60 square meters appartment in a very nice and quiet neighborhood is something that is hard to beat - total cost: € 1,020.85 for rent AND utilities per year in what is basically a gated community in a city (Augsburg) that to my best knowledge should have a low crime rate in a country with a still low crime rate.

No, can't beat that on a price-to-value-ratio!

So, in that sense I do hold Jakob Fugger in high regard. A welfare-project that is still up and running based on the same principles after now almost 500 years with all the wars and political changes in Germany's history - see who can beat that!

Hi Jeff,

that request is easy:

That's the family crest of the "Fugger von der Lilie", the "Fuggers of the Lily" or "the Fleur-de-Lis Fuggers", the branch of the family that got rich and mighty under Jakob Fugger dem Reichen ( "the Rich") and his nephew Anton Fugger.

At the time of your adventure Phillip Eduard Fugger von Kirchberg und Weissenhorn (* 1546, + 1618 in Augsburg) was head of the company.

Here is his picture:

There is a second branch of the family, the Fugger vom Reh ("Fuggers of the Deer") who had a a golden deer on blue ground as a crest.

In 1610 Johann Christoph Fugger (1561-1612) was the last prominent member of that family. He was elevated to the rank of "knightly nobleman", was awarded the  so called "Rotwachsfreiheit" (priviledge of sealing with red wax - the right to seal with red wax was originally only for the Emperor, kings, cardinals and souverain lords) and was a clerk and member of the Imperial chancellery and registry in Prague.

But the Fugger vom Reh were at that point no longer merchants of any considerable influence - or at all.

So much for now. By the way: This is a Renaissance adventure, so big-breasted noblewomen is what the reader wants to see! I am all for the implants! GO, TIM!

Cheers, Thorsten

Hi Jeff,

really good news. It was a pleasure to help you in the small way that I could. Really curious how the adventure goes on.

My backyard? Where exactly?

Realm Workd I don't know. But I use the Character Creation Program of Lone Wolf for Savage Worlds and MutantS & Masterminds - or I plan to as soon as I gm M&M. For SW it is really great becaus ethere is a lot of fan support for the different settings of SW - including Solomon Kane.

BTW: The wanders are in Rome now, collecting 6000 ducats as a reward from a mission thta took 4 years and sent them all the way to India and China and back. Fought a duel and are now on a mission to find a clergyman's nephew in the red light district of Rome. And yes: There was already a brothel brawl and they have yet to face a murdering necromancer, ghouls and maybe a fire-demon. Summer in the Eternal City!

Cheers - and keep me up to date and tell me when you need more information and research!

Thorsten

Hi Jeff,

right now I am proofreading the script of a friend which is rather lengthy and contains multiple longer and shorter passage that have to be translated from English to German. Also for publication.

So reviewing a lenghty draft seem not very manageable at the moment, and I don't want to promise something that I cannot guarantee to fulfill with the attention and thoroughness that your manuscript demands.

So, willing yes, able no. Sorry, but I don't see any chance. I still have to time to help with questions and research, of course.

But good news about the publication! And thanks for the offer about the Jamestown colony. Of course, my players changed their plans and are now travelling to Rome to get funds that will help them to get to Quebec/ New France! But Jamestown will come up sooner or later.

All the best and cheers!

Thorsten

Howard's stories about the cloomy puritan are really great in my oppionion. Howard was generally speaking a very good pulp author. Cona, Kull, Bran Mac Morn, Cormac McArt are all great S&W, Kane is historical S&W at its best (but avoid the movie - awful! Not as bad as the latest Conan but really a waste of time). I also like his adventurous pulp stories and espeacially the boxing stories. You can realy feel the punches (no kidding!). I have to admit that I like his horror stories better than HPL's because there is more action.

The only thing he sucks at is crime novels. They feel like Sam Spade stumbled into a weak Conan-adventure with some horror thrown in, like he could not decide what to write.

A also read a few of his western stories - not bad indeed either. His stories about the crusades are still on my to-do-list.

Winter King you say, eh? Sounds very interesting. I think I meantioned it before: Triple Ace is kickstarting The Devil's Playground for Ubiquity/ All For One and later a Savage Worlds version - a sourcebook on the Thirty Years' War. I am not kicking the start (so to speak) but I am definately getting that book - most likely the SW version IF I can keep from buying both (All for Onne's version is published earlier and I am bad at waiting).

BTW: Your adventure starts in 1610. As does the Solomon Kane campaign. The SK campaign stretches over quite a long time (in-game it is now 6 years with all the travelling) your adventure is set in a shorter timefame.

Both can be fitted really well together if one is willing to downplay the Clockwork aspect (not totally - one just has to make it even a little more outlandish) and change the rules to either Savage Worlds or Renaissance respectively.

I would have, had I had your adventure in my hands earlier.

Perfect! And great backstory by the way.

The Solomon kane campaign I run now for almost two years (that is: Almost every Sunday for my group! Usually, we alternate gms and play stuff like AD&D 2nd edition, Warhammer, D&D 5th, Space Gothic (German Sci-Fi with All-Catholic Space Crusaders) and some Basic D&D) follows the plot point campiagn given in the rulebook. If you don't have it, get it! I have never seen a campaign so well written and sandboxy at the same time.

The plot in very short: The SCs follow the Path of Kane, led by visions of an old African shaman who guides them to find six of seven jewels that they need to combat an Old Evil (a monstrous snakelike devil hidden under Jerusalem!). To find them they have to travel all the known continents (not Asutralia, not Antartica) and find one on each. The Visions are so sketchy, that the players basically wander and search for evil.

Thus, my group has travelled from the Black Forest of Germany to France, from France to England, to Scotland, back to England, to France, to the Netherlands and to the East to the Baltic states of Kurland, back to the Netherlands, to Austria, Hungary, to Ottoman Transsylvania (and killed Vlad Tepes, the bastards!), to Rome, toJerusalem and Palestine, Irak and Persia, visited Portugese India and Macao, travelled incognito through China and rescued the Chinese Emperor, travelled to the Gobi Desert and back to Macao and France. They are right now in Paris and prepare a voyage to Quebec in New France. Berfore that they still have business to attend to in Rome.

So far they have the European and Asian Jewel - all imbedded in magical weapons that are capable to injure supernatural creatures - and they have a good lead to the jewel in Mexico and a hunch for the one in North America.

So far they have fought, bandits, smugglers, poisoners, all kinds of thugs, Spanish and Habsburg soldiers and nobles, Indian Kali cultists and demons, a snake god, zombies and necromants and evil socerors, undeads of most shape and form including undead Roman soldiers and picts and a Spirit plesiosaur, a werewolf, vampires, grotesque demons and succubi, witches, warlocks, duelled with Kurlandish knights and French swashbucklers, were thrown into Portugese prisons in India, in Imperila prisons in China, met the King of France, the Secretary of the Chancellor of the Holy Roman Empire, the Emperor of China, Armand-Jean du Plessis (better known under his later titel:Cardinal Richelieu), the Mayor of London.

And in the meantime one character has maried and fathered a child, one was knighted and is about to get engaged and our lady adventures is keeping the Spanish soldier at arms length (also a PC) but within reach and is dodging her family's pursuers who want to bring her home and get her married (or into a nunnery!).

It's quite a blast and at least one of the best camüpaigns I have aver run. It is easily the most intense with all the historical background that is provided and that I do research to make it as realistic as I can.

It is a little like a really exciting history lesson with dice and adventures - for me and the players!

Cheers! Thorsten

Well, even if I hate to destroy the high esteem you have for my knowledge. My Google-Fu is strong ...

I actually thought it was a Nietsche quote and I wanted to supply a German trasnlation for you, so I checked and found - nothing. At least not in German.

A little later a found Blake's quote. But I still think you hammered it!

And anyway: That is what I like about your adventure, my effort to be of assistance and my ongoing Solomon Kane campaogn: Reading, learning, writing and gaming is ONE!

Regarding the new fraction: All in all a very EVIL and very inspirational faction - the kind a gm loves to through at his players. Very deep in myth and history and Lovecraftian background!

Only one thing "bothers" me, not because I would not fit the character of the faction but because of historical reasons:

The Aryan race is supreme

My google-fu tells me that in the 17th century nobody in Germany would use that term. Dareios I, King of Persia refered to himself as an Aryan - that was 521 bis 486 BC. In German the term wasn't used before the 1770s and not to describe white people in Germany.

In dteh 17th century we see the start of "racial awareness" in the sense that people came to think of other peopel as inferior due to their blood. has to do with the Reconquista and the enslavement of blacks en masse for the New World. We don't have a lot of national pride or even national consciouness, if only because peopel almost never met anyone they could not talk with and xenophobia just meant that you don't like people who you don't know or a different from you. But a Jew or a muslim Turk who converts to Roman Catholicism is a brother - and a heretical Lutheran is certainly not (and the other way round).

So, how do they know that there is something like an Aryan race that they as Germans belong to? A teaching of Nyarlathotep?

Why not choose a different root race: According to Balatvsky's Root Race Idea the Aryans are  basically all of the whites, so there is nothing special about Germans there, and the Hyperboreans were nothing but gigantic monsters and the 2nd root race. The first one came from the Moon and was called the Dhyan-Chohans, were like gods or angels and immortal. Why not make the Himmelreich believe that they are reincarnated Dhyan-Chohans (or their vessels), born to rule as true Übermenschen?

Would also fit like a glove withthe name Himmelreich because they came originally from heaven - well, the moon.

Of course, Blatavsky's root race is also not historical correct but I see the following advantages:

1. It is new. "Aryans are supreme and are meant to rule the world" is an old hat. Makes the Himmelreich proto-Nazis. Why, when you can use a root race almost nobody knows about? That would be a first to my best knowledge!

2. The name Dhyan-Chohans sounds like Lovecraft invented it.

3. They came from the moon -> Himmelreich!

4. They came from the moon all by themselves? Please, Nyarlie: They are Mi-Go, right? - More hidden Lovecraft reference. Not saying they were Mi-Go ... but ... well ... anything is possible when Nyarlathotep spins his tales for the beast called human ...

So much from me.

Hope there is something you can use.

Cheers! Thorsten

P.S.: Please do excuse my Germanish frankness. Not very good at praises here. So, equally frank: Except for the Aryan element I like the faction A LOT!!! I think the different aspects really make it a fiendish enemy the players will love to hate and the gm will hate to love. What more can you want? And even if for plot reasons or just because you like it better they stay Aryans supreme that makes it still a helluva faction.

Hi Jeff,

Cheers!

Thorsten

Hi Jeff,

thanks for your praises! Regarding credits: Maybe "Thorsten Gresser, German translations and research"? Would that be an adequate description of my assistance?

So let's see what Germanism we still got:

Epffelbolster (fried battered apples)

Grüner Feldsalat (green field salad)

Lachs im Teyge (salmon pastries)

Coellen eyn kroyn boven allen steden schoyn – Köln, a crown, most beautiful of cities!  Definately 16th century lower-German!

the twin spires of the Kölner Dom, a magnificent Gothic cathedral

Marktpforte, the harbor gate

Gaffeln, the Council of Guilds

Altstadt, the Old Quarter of Köln

the Rathaus, with its 5-storey tower

gather on the stylish loggia in the morning to read out their decisions (Morgensprache) to the assembled citizens  

Zunftzeichen (guild sign)

 many housewives gather in the Altermarkt, it seems, to gossip

a placard (Anschlag)

Formschneider to carve the blocks which are then inked to print the image

Before the cathedral in the Domplatz is the Fountain of St. Peter.

Heinzelmännchen and their mechanism

Narrenhaus - madhouse

Deutsch sein heißt, eine Sache um ihrer selbst willen tun. It means, To be German means to do something for its own sake. It's from Richard Wagner, but who says that someone else did not say it before.

Böser Geist (Evil Spirit)

Brauhaus "Drüjje Pitter" – Dry Pieter’s Brauhaus

As for my Spanish and French: I am equally versed in both: None! ;-)

Cheers!

Thorsten

Rote Funken will make any German who reads that and has any knowledge of Kaneval shout "Aalaf!" and snicker. And it does sound more like a nickname for the troops because it isn't "martial" enough in my oppinion - or do they recruit themselves from sentenced arsonists? Hope not. ;-)

Well, new name for Cologner soldiers. Generally, soldiers did not dress uniformly - with few exceptions like Florian Geyer's "Schwarzer Haufen" during the Great German Peasant War in the 1520s, a peasant regiment that dressed all in black, or the "Schwarze Bande" of landsknechts in the campaign of the French king in Italy.

Black was cheap and can be used to color clothes of any other color quite successfully.

So, that will be a tough one:

Hahnengarde - still red; and with a slight snicker. The translation is "Guard of Roosters". Well, or "Cocks", but the German slang word for a man's member is not cock or Hahn but Schwanz (= tail), so in German it would mean soldiers dressed in their red finest and strutting around like roosters. But roosters are also proud, so it would not be a name that is all joke. Though mostly.

Their official name could be Kronengarde (Crowns' Guard) because they wear red with the coat-of-arms of Cologne in their tappart - and it has three crowns on it.

If we go ahistorical we could use Die Geißböck' ( Die Geißböcke = the billy goats). The billy goat Hennes is the mascot of the football team of Cologne 1. FC Köln. Maybe the guard adopted a billy goat as a mascot after getting one for a feast and said goat put on such a helluva fight and rammed the (already quite drunk) soldiers that they gave up and "adopted" the goat as a comrade-in-horns and made him Sergeant Hennes (Feldweibel Hennes). Would make for a nice and original background story that is not unbelievable, considering the times, places and soldiers'  sense of humor. You could keep the red uniforms and officially they would still be the Kronengarde, but Die Geißböck' would be a aquired nome-de-guerre and not some joking nickname for the troops.

So much for my ideas for alternatives for Rote Funken (AALAF!!! See - happens every time ;-))

Hope to hear from you soon! Really looking forward to the next part of the adventure.

Tschüss!

Thorsten

Hi Jeff,

the names are: Thorsten Gresser (me) and Bemi Sinkong (my better half).

Okay, let's see what we have here. If it is just a spelling mistake I will correct it and mark it bold.

The Mittelrhein Voyage - Is this a headline. then it should stay. If it is like something the characters book you could make it Mittelrheinfahrt. That it is by boat everybody knows so we don't need to put "Schiff-" in there.

The Free City of Köln - Freie Stadt Köln

Der Sterne Weisheit, the Starry Wisdom,

of the benevolent confraternity, Das Himmelreich

of Roter Skorpion - I don't think I ever use the, Der, Die, Das etc. in front of Roter Skorpion anywhere since wasn't sure which was correct article

Fortress of Guelich - Yeah, old spelling but "kewl" so I kept it - you could make it Festung (= Fortress)

Reichsthalers - coinage  

Fortress of Ehrenbreitstein - you could make it Festung (= Fortress)

Town Council of 22 guilds, the Gaffeln

the towering Domkirche, a Gothic cathedral

Rote Funken - “Red Sparks” - for their jaunty red jackets ; that is a traditional corps of the Kölsche Karneval, but is not that old. It was founded in 1823 and the uniforms were supposed to be a spoof of the Prussian uniforms. What exactly is the Rote Funken in your adventure?

Nachtschar, the Night Spirits living in the Alps - be sure that "Nachtschar" is alway plural. Nachtvolk or Die Fahrt are synomyms. Singular would be simply "Geist", but I doubt that you ever meet them alone. I surely never did ;-)

The Greedy Bürgermeister of Kaub

Katzenellenbogen (Cat’s Elbow)

The Loreley is a 132 meter high, steep slate rock outcropping

“Was zum Teufel ist das?” (What in hell is that?)

the medieval Schloss Marxburg

Eselsweg, the medieval “donkey road”

Zugbrückentor, the drawbridge gate

Fuchstor the Fox Gate

Vogtsturm, the Castellan’s Tower

Schartentor, the Loophole Gate

Burgschmiede, Castle Blacksmithery

12 pound culverin (Feldschlange or Kolubrine or Kalverine)

three 4 pound Falkonett (sometimes this was also called a Falkaun)

Eiserne Pforte, the Iron Gate

Greif (Griffin)

Weinhaus - for a tavern in Koblenz

the Stube (public room)

Himmel un Ääd (Heaven and Earth – 12 kreuzer) - This is a traditional dish in the Rhineland, consisting of blackpudding, apple sauce, fried onions and - here is the catch - mashed potatoes. The potato was first cultivated in Germany in East-Franconia in 1647, so Himmel un Ääd could not be on the menue. in 1610 in Köln. You can't substituted the potato becuase it is the "earth"-part in the dish (apple is heaven I guess - or it is because it tastes so "heavenly".

Gastwirt (Host)

See, nothing much to nitpick ;-)

Cheers, Thorsten

Hi Jeff,

thanks for your best wishes for recovery - since Thursday it is "back to the teaching trenches" for me. Right now it is a temperature and climate here in Germany (not warm, not cold, not sunny, not rainy, something a little bit of everything) that is rife with students and fellow teachers getting "it" - whatever "it" may be.

Quite a lot missing classes actually.

But I am back on board and - sure: Send me anything you would liked to be checked.

Cheers!

Thorsten

Hi Jeff,

in the Game of Thrones books there is an adoption of the Church of Starry Wisdom. That was translated as Kult der Weisheit der Sterne.

And after a night of feverish thought (yep, still ill) I spotted a grammar mistake:

It is either Die Sternenweisheit (one word) or Der Sterne Weisheit (genitive construction). Sternen is and always was  dative ; forget my ramblings about "unusual genetive construction" - "unusual" all right because it is a different case!

So now you have two good options:

Either you try to stay with the German GoT-translation or your own Der Sterne Weisheit. I would not use Die Sternenweisheit - to long and just doesn't sound good. It's "good German" though.

Thorsten

Hi Jeff,

feeling a little under the weather since Friday - killed my long weekend with the national holiday and all.

I was waiting for you to contact me with questions. Nice to hear about the second part getting published by Christmas!

A literal translation of The Starry Wisdom would be Die sterneklare Weisheit - "The Wisdom as clear as the stars/ as a sky in which you can see the stars clearly". Sounds quite silly in German.

Your translation means "The Wisdom from the Stars" in an unusual genitiv-construction - which gets my two thumbs up! Der Sternen Weisheit sounds mysterious, secretive, odd, transsubstantial but not necessarily threatening as such - a good name for a cult, especially if the cult has evil intentions.

And if not - all the better.

I think you should us Der Sternen Weisheit.

In the German translation of The Haunter of the Dark (dt. Der leuchtende Trapezoeder = The Shining Trapezohedron) the Church of Starry Wisdom is not translated but simply called "die Starry Wisdom Sekte" (Sekte = sect). Your translation is much better.

All the best (and: All to bed for me!)

Thorsten

Hi Jeff,

finally found the time to read the

"Verüebete Exorcistizationes an Seiner Fürstlichen Gnaden Herrn Johan Wilhelmen, Hertzogen zu Cleve, Juelich und Berge etc. Christmistester Gedächtnus. Obseruirt und beschrieben durch einen in hochstgmltr. Seiner Fürstlichen Gnaden Dienst damahls sich auffhaltenden vornehmen Edelmann und Patrioten. Utinam numquam inceptum!"

in English:

"Performed Exorcisms with His Princely Grace the Lord Johann Wilhelm, Duke of Cleve, Juelich and Berg etc for his Most Christian Commemoration. Observed and described by a distinguished Gentleman and Patriot who was at that time in the service of His Grace. If it only had never started!"

The multiple tries to exorcise started on Friday, August 12th 1605 by a group or exorcists or "Teuffelbändere" ("devil-tamer") in Hambach.

The manuscript names:

Johannes Pistorius, Imperial Caplan-Major

Pater Zacharias and Pater Franciscus of the Order of St. Ambrose

Pater Jacobus, Guardian of Düren of the Jesuits

Caspar Ulenberg, Guardian of Dortmund (an Imperial Free City - Freie Reichsstadt)

Pater Leo from the Jesuits in Cologne

and both chaplans of the duke (names not given).

There were also several courtiers and ducal counsilmen present, as witnesses, and also sometimes the Duke's wife.

The whole exorcism seemed to be a long affair withut being quite exact:

"Da nun mein Gnädigster Fürst und Herr einen Tag 5 oder 6 zu Hambach gewesen und sich ein weinig danach gesinniget, haben sie angefangen (...) das Werk, ihrem ersten Vornehmen nach, zu üben und zu treiben."

"When my Gracious Prince and Lord had been five or six days in Hambach and came a little bit to his senses, they started the work that they had decided to perform in the fisrt place."

First they approached the Duke and asked him if he would pray with them. The Duke agreed and so they sat him down on a chair and put a cross on the floor in front of him and started the litany in which they asked God, all "the lovely saints" ("alle lieben Heilgen") to make the evil spirit ("böser Geist") go away.

This did not help.

Then they started teh exorcism in earnest: The clerics put their hands on the Duke and blessed him all at once and hold a special "exorcism"-cross made of black wood with goldplaited siver an or in front of his head, put it to his feet or made him take it in his hand and bless himself "in the Jesuit way" two or three times.

This didn't help either.

Now the upped their act by shouting and yelling at the devil (and presumably the duke) and used "kräftige wort" (powerful words) from the Holy Sacraments, from the Name of God, the Lord Jesus, his Holy Cross, and also the merits of the Mother of God maria and all the saints to summon the devil, conquer him and finally bannish him back to hell. All the while the duke was meek and gentle and let it all happen which made the witnesses wonder and brought tears to their eyes.

But the devil did not show himself.

So they cranked it up all right: The exorcists took the right hand of the duke and commande the devil to show himself in a sign on the right hand! They used the Ave maria, the Pater noster, the Symbolum (I guess they made the sign of the cross) and recited psalms - all three times.

Devil did not show.

Now they led the duke from his chamber to the chapel and tried it all over again for quite a long time and with much more zeal and force. Finally the duke lost his patience and shouted in a loud voice to his courtier and followers to help him and to attack or grab ("angreifen") the "traitors and evildoers" - "Verräter und Bösewichte". The word "angreifen" can mean both here - I guess he wanted the guards to stop the shouting, grabbing and pulling of his person - the German command would be: "Packt sie!" or "Ergreift sie!").

The exorcists stopped their work immediately (smart move!).

They tried one last time to grab his hand and command the devil to show himself on the ducal hand - but at that duke had had it and offered them to give them his hand by punching them on the mouth. So they came to the conclusion that the "show yourself on the duke's hand"-command was out, too.

Later (the source is not quite good on the times) they used threir conjurations against the devil, chastised him because he was disobeyful, cursed him and tried to expel him to the abyss of hell. This took half an hour and was filled with terrible curse-words that the witnesses were terrified and upset.

Then they totured a picture of the devil with hot wax, whipped it and finally burned it. They also had 50 small "letter" with names of the devil. These the exorcists burned, too, and threw stones at the at so to stone the devil:

"Also wart der arme Teuffell (...) erstlich verbrannt und darnach gesteiniget."

"So the poor Devil was at first burned and stoned afterwards." This took a lomg time.

At the end they stopped the exorcism and started a multitude of benedictions and finished the exorcims for good.

They  pureed the duke's meals with holy water, using a piece of wood that had been used to fasten the devil's picture onto it (at least that is how I understand it) and also put holy water in his drinks.

At last they put special crosses made of wax in each of the four corners of the bed-chamber and fixed a wodden cross over the bed in such a way that it was the first thing the duke would see when he opened his eyes.

In the end the exorcists were unsuccessful and also in the Dukes disfavour since he did not bid them farewell nor offered his hand for a good-bye. The next morning he asked his servants twice if "the monks" were gone" - answer: Yes! - and if they would come back - answer: No!

The whole affair sememd to be quite taxing for the exorcists also because Pater Zacharias stayed in the chateau beacuse the became ill and could not ride even when he left Hmabach - he had to use a horse-litter.

That is the gist of the source. Hope you can use it for the adventure.

Cheers! Thorsten

Actually, as far as I found out that barbecue in 1163 was the end of the Cathars in the Rhineland. But of course, that should not hinder you to keep some secret society active.

The origin of the name is either the one you mentioned or may come from the Greek word καθαρός, katharós for "pure". I personally doubt that because they called themselves boni homini, good people.

Pappenheimer is actually most often used in the German proverb "Ich kenne meinen Pappenheimer!" und means today something like: I know exactly who is lazy/ skips his duties etc. Not really bad people, but surely someone you want to keep an eye on. The original meaning refered to the Regiment Pappenheim of Gottfried Heinrich Graf zu Pappenheim (1594-1632), a general in the 30-Years-War. His regiment was known for relentless loyalty and bravery. The literal meaning is "someone from the city of Pappenheim.

I would advice against using ridiculous or overly telling names, unless you want to go down the Warhammer path. Very fitting for Warhammer, but it would - at leats in my opinion - take away from the realism of the campaign. That said, there is nothing to say against using nicknames that apply to people's profession or looks or character that can be quite funny indeed and very realistic at the same time.

I like:

"Zuckeschwert" (Tzuke-Shwert) (Draws-his-sword) for a ruffian swordfighter.

"Goldgrübler" (Goldgreebler) (someone who digs for gold) for someone who cleasn the latrines

"Mannteufel" (Man-Devil) for someone with a fiendish character or a savage fighter

"Würgt" (weerkt) (someone who chokes OR retches)

"Schinkentanz" (dance of ham) for a butcher

"Bierbach" (creek of beer) for a drunkard or a brewer

"Trinkaus" (bottoms up) for see above

"Immervoll" (always loaded) for see above

"Frauenschläger" (wife beater) well, guess what he does ;-)

"Killer"  (I kid you not - in my class was a boy with that name) - NOT what you think! means: someone who comes from the river or town Killer in southern Germany or someone who adore St. Kilian

"Todtenkopf" (death's head, skull) - either a grave-digger or someone who is very thin

"Durchdenwald" (through the forest) - someone who lives, well, behind a large amount of trees

"Fuckhart" (Fookhart)  - not what you think! A Fucke is a  late-medieval woman's clothing. So probably name for someone who is a tailor of Fuckes with the first name Hartmut or Reinhardt

There are hundreds of them. I could go on for days and please notice: None of the names is made up!

If you give me the job, the looks, the character I can see that I can find a realistic and kinda ridiculous name.

Brauhauskultur - what does it mean? Hmmm ... beer, freshly made and foamy. Good traditional German food - pork roast, chicken, in the Rhineland also Sauerbraten (sour roast) made from horse-flesh (yes, we Germans ain't so picky about eating horse) with bread or dumplings; men playing cards or shooting dice, but mostly in a friendly manner. People here don't play Poker, we play Skat (played by 3 and only three peopel witha deck of 32 - no 2s to 6s) or Doppelkopf (3 to 7 players) and usually not for huge sums. Maybe some traditional music (which is NOT Bavarian Oompha).

So much for today. Finally figured out how to print-out the article about the Mad Count's exorcism. I will see if I can dig into that next week. School started today - at least for me. I am principal of department 2 (grades 7 and 8) at my comprehensive school and start a little earlier. Next week are mostly conferences and the children will start their pestering next Wednesday.

Have a nice vacation!

Thorsten

Good to hear that your wife is okay again. Have fun on your vacation!

Last things first:

A Stube is originally a heated room in a house, also used for representation. In not so former times (like in the 1960s and 1970s) it was not unusual that the living-room was that special room in German houeseholds, meaning: Children had no business been there. BTW: Stube shares an ethymological origin with the English stove.

Regarding a Brauhaus: To call it Stube is a way of saying "Here we have heat, it's comfy and representative. We are not a cheap tavern for bozos and riffraff but a nice place for respectable people. Feel welcome (and behave)!" - Of course that is advertisement and not necessarily true.

I would also think that you can have traditional German meals there.

Today, Stube sounds traditional and old-fashioned: old gentlemen drinking beer, playing card - or tourist traps.

The Cathars (German: Katharer) were indeed in the Rhineland and came to Antwerpen, Löwen and Brügge between 1110 and 1115, Soissons 1114, Utrecht 1135, Lüttich 1135, Köln 1143, Trier 1164, Reims 1180, Troyes 1200, Straßburg 1211.

In Köln five Cathars were executed on August 5th 1163, led by a Meister Arnold - they were burned at the stake. The monk Ceasarius von Heisterbach reports that they were examined by the clergy, proved to be heretics and they given to the worldly authorities.

They were sentences to a fiery death. They were led outside the city and bound to stakes at the Judenkirchhof (meaning "church yard of the Jews" - makes only sense if it is the place of a former Roman temple (old and non-Christian = pagan = Jewish)).

It is reported that while their bodies were already "glowing" the Meister placed his hands on the already half-burned heads and said: "Seid fest in eurem Glauben!" - "Be  firm / stand fast in your believe!"

Amongst the Cathars was also a beautiful virgin who was likewise sentences to burn as a heretic. But because the people felt for her they took her from the stake and offered her to renounce and beconme a nun or marry. But she turned and jumped into the fire to the smoldering corpse of Meister Arnold "to go to hell with him and burn in eternity".

This execution was the end of the Cathars in the Rhineland.

Hope this helps.

Thorsten