Thadeus returns to the Hideout and finds the bunker calm again. Fresh repairs replace the damage, and the old room feels clean, sealed, and useful.
Beyond the supply aisles, the hidden chamber waits. Elias sits at the desk under soft light, bent over a thick book on English castles and fortifications.
Elias
The curtain wall would matter less than the approach. A gate is only as strong as the mind that planned it.
Elias looks up, weariness in his face, but relief breaks through it when he sees Thadeus. He closes the book partway and gestures toward the sofa.
Elias
You made it back. Sit down, Thadeus. I was just getting the old place ready for a proper map session.
Thadeus settles onto the sofa, the bunker quiet around them. The desk, the book, and the planned trip to London all sit between them like a calm invitation to start.
“Thadeus engages with Elias about the book, curious to what he's found. Elias looks puzzled, sharing, "So this castle we're looking for, Proserpina. It's not on any modern maps. It doesn't exist." Thadeus, equally buzzed, responds, "I had a dream several nights before we saw the vampire. I was in the castle, and Erzsebet saw me. She recognized me. How is that possible?"”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled +0)
Elias slides the castle book closer, tapping a page with a pencil. The map is old, but the margin notes are newer, crowded with routes, dates, and one repeated warning: no modern survey matches the site.
Elias
So this castle we are looking for, Proserpina, it is not on any modern maps. It does not exist.
Thadeus Jovanović
I had a dream several nights before we saw the vampire. I was in the castle, and Erzsebet saw me. She recognized me. How is that possible?
Elias
That is the part I cannot square. If the place is missing, then either the book is wrong, or it is hidden in a way normal maps cannot catch.
Elias turns the page and a sketch of battlements appears beside a faded photograph of him and Trevor, the paper marked with the same careful handwriting that fills the chapter edges.
Elias
The Grimoire keeps pointing to London anyway. If the castle is there, we go in with routes, exits, and a reason for every room we enter.
He pushes a folded street map across the desk toward the sofa, then pauses over a line about the castle's first owner, his mouth tightening as he reads on.
“Thadeus picks up the street map, appearing to be for a village called Beaconsfield, located on the far outskirts of London proper. The map suggests the area has a population of maybe 200, it's very small. To the west of the village is a large, undeveloped plot of land. Thadeus thinks, "Maybe large enough to hold a castle."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled +3)
Thadeus lifts the street map off the desk and smooths a crease with his thumb. Beaconsfield sits tiny on the edge of London, a village more than a town, with only a few hundred people marked beside its name.
Thadeus Jovanović
Maybe large enough to hold a castle.
West of the village, a wide blank stretch of land opens across the paper, unbuilt and unclaimed. The margin note beside it is newer than the print, in Elias’s tight hand, and it circles the area twice.
Elias
That empty land is the only place on this map that still looks wrong.
Elias leans over the desk, following Thadeus’s finger, then goes still as the shape clicks into place for him. The folded route line to Beaconsfield, the blank western field, and the marked page all line up.
Elias
If Proserpina is hiding anywhere near London, this is where I would start looking.
He flips the castle book open one page farther. A faded line about the first owner is crossed out in pencil, then rewritten with a darker note, as if someone wanted the warning to survive.
“Thadeus looks over at the book on historic castles and sees the crossed out name. Thadeus reads the name, "William Thorne. Elias, you don't think..." Elias looks at Thadeud confused, then realizes what he's suggesting, replying with, "Thorne certainly isn't that common of a last name. Do you think Marcus is related?" Thadeus smirks, "There are no coincidences. I'm going to make a phone call."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled +1)
Thadeus angles the book closer and catches the crossed-out line before Elias can hide it under his pencil. The name is plain enough, William Thorne, scratched through and rewritten in a harder hand.
Thadeus Jovanović
William Thorne... Elias, you don't think...
Elias looks up, confused for half a second, then the thought lands. His shoulders tighten over the desk as he glances from the book to Thadeus, then back to the map.
Elias
Thorne is not that common a last name. Do you think Marcus is related?
Thadeus Jovanović
There are no coincidences. I'm going to make a phone call.
Thadeus reaches for his phone while Elias stays frozen over the open book. The penciled circle on the London map, the crossed-out name, and the old castle warning suddenly feel like the same thread pulled tight.
Elias watches him, waiting to see whether the call is to Marcus, or to someone who can explain why the Thorne name keeps surfacing around Proserpina.
“Thadeus tries calling Marcus Thorne. After what feels like minutes, Marcus answers, "Thadeus, I wasn't expecting to hear from you. I thought you were in the hospital." Thadeus responds, a little irritated, "You were supposed to stop spying on us. I don't know what you saw, but I've found something you might find interesting. Any chance you have family living in England?" Marcus sounds surprised, "Actually, many of my family grew up in Leeds, why do you ask?" Thadeus responds, "We should have a face to face conversation. I may need help with a story in London."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Diplomacy, rolled +2)
Thadeus lifts the phone to his ear while the bunker stays quiet around the desk. Elias keeps one hand on the map, but his attention shifts fully to the call.
Marcus Thorne
Thadeus, I was not expecting to hear from you. I thought you were in the hospital.
Thadeus Jovanović
You were supposed to stop spying on us. I do not know what you saw, but I found something you might find interesting. Any family in England?
Marcus Thorne
Actually, a lot of my family grew up in Leeds. Why do you ask?
Thadeus Jovanović
We should talk face to face. I may need help with a story in London.
Elias looks up at that, his expression shifting from guarded to alert. The opened grimoire sits between them, its warning line catching the bunker light above the circle on the London map.
A beat passes on the line, then Marcus exhales like he is deciding something carefully. Elias waits, silent, for the answer that will shape the trip.