Venice - The Abandoned City - The Protagonists

I asked Dougers and Snappers to provide background detail for the characters they would use searching the Abandoned City of Venice and I'm posting them here in full, as much because they are germane to the game as because they're a fun read in their own right. No pictures :( Sorry.

Sir Douglas d’Emfore

Born Douglas McFaugh, he was the 11th child of a minor Scottish baronet, Sir Dougal McFaugh. The previous 10 children were all girls so Douglas was much feted by his parents although his mother, having finally produced a son and heir, sensibly spent most of her time in Edinburgh, a fairly safe distance from Sir Dougal. Sir Dougal, the Laird of Invercockerleekie, was known locally as Roaring Dougal and was a man of vast appetites. Not all of Douglas’ sisters bore any resemblance to his mother. Nevertheless, they were a happy brood.

Sir Dougal created something of a sensation when he announced that “Wee Douglas”, now he was 13, would be attending Eton College. When asked how he, an impoverished Scots baronet, could afford the fees he replied “Wheest, awa wi yee” (for some reason, the people of Invercockerleekie spoke in this extraordinary music-hall faux Scots) ma ither bairns are naught but wee pulin gurrrls. Ahve nay spent a brass farthin’ on any one o’them so ma boy cud have the best.”

So young Douglas went off to Eton. His father, a very practical man, told him to change his name so that he could succeed in the Sassenach world and thus he became Douglas d’Emfore instead of McFaugh.He was a middling student but excelled in games and languages. Being an old Etonian he had no trouble getting into Cambridge where, bye-and-bye, he was approached by an ancient don who, with an air of mystery, said that Douglas should join the Diplomatic Service rather than the Foreign Office after graduating and wait to be contacted by someone who would offer him an interesting job "You’re just the kind of young chap he’s looking for” the don said. Despite this invitation sounding slightly questionable, Douglas’ interest was piqued.

The old academic’s prediction was soon proved to be accurate. Within months of joining the Service, Douglas was invited to a meeting at The Travellers Club in Pall Mall. He met a suave diplomat, Peregrine de Leominster and a rugged military type, Barnaby Pitt-Bulstrode. After what seemed a rambling, chatty conversation, de Leominster said “Well, old boy. Fancy doing a bit of travelling? Making use of your German and that sort of thing?” d’Emfore, although still mystified as to what he was being recruited for, thought “why not” and thus became a confidential agent disguised as a minor diplomat. He proved himself adept at the rôle and became a specialist in Central and Eastern European matters. By the time the Secret Service Bureau was officially established in 1909, d’Emfore was a senior man. Operating from Switzerland, he was by now running extensive operations through Germany, Austro-Hungary, the Balkans and Italy.

The outbreak of The Great War saw d’Emfore’s operations expanded enormously and he was always on the lookout for new agents. When his sister, Veronica Permahorn (of whom more later) told him about a close friend of hers, Lettice Crisply-Dunne (more of her later, also), being stranded in Austria and willing to stay and operate clandestinely, he jumped at the chance. Veronica told him a bit about Lettice and it was obvious she was the right sort so, taking advantage of the chaos in Vienna at the beginning of the war, he was able to smuggle the necessary documentation to her to enable her to stay in Austria and pass as an Austrian.

D’Emfore had a most successful war, thanks in no small part to Lettice and others like her, but when it finished, he felt the need to get away from the secret world and travel the globe but his past kept catching up with him and he found himself involved in many adventures in the strangest parts of the world - which is why he finds himself now, about to embark on another one, this time in Venice. He was to be joined by Lettice and Veronica who had been with him in many of his post-war adventures and also his faithful ghillie, Mad Wullie McSpaniel.

Lettice Crisply-Dunne

Born 1886.

Daughter of Baron Christian Crisply-Dunne. Until the age of 11, she received an eccentric education from her mother. Lady Strangely Crisply-Dunne which involved lots of swimming in cold lakes and wholesale slaughtering of wild animals. She then was sent to Roedean School. Some of her fellow new pupils quickly succumbed to the inevitable bullying. Some dealt with it stoically and moved on. The arch bully, Horrenda Natchbull, quickly discovered that occasionally a newcomer reacted savagely. Two weeks into the new term, Horrenda was found suspended upside down from the cistern in one of the staff toilets, her head one and a quarter inches above the water level. The toilet had been used but not flushed. Pinned to her blouse was a note saying "Horrenda - done crisply." Lettice spent three years at Roedean without experiencing any bullying - on the contrary she was, regrettably, an active and imaginative bully herself. After a lively conversation between the school and Lady Strangely, it was agreed that Lettice should pursue her education elsewhere. Her mother sent her to a predictably unconventional finishing school in Switzerland where she excelled in shooting all types of small-arms, including the crossbow, as well as achieving proficiency in all the major European languages, climbing, botany and, not surprisingly, stick-fighting.

As soon as she left the Swiss school in 1904, she embarked on a series of explorations in some of the most inhospitable parts of the world. Returning home from an archeological dog in Kurdistan in 1914, she found herself stranded in Austria when Great Britain entered the war against Austria-Hungary in mid-August. Not one to bemoan her fate, she decided to do what she could as an agent in the enemy’s midst. As a fluent speaker of German with a genuine Swiss accent, she blended in effortlessly and was soon contacted by an existing espionage cell in Salzburg. She came to the notice of Sir Douglas d’Emfore, the secretive genius behind the Salzburg cell and many others throughout Europe. He had already had glowing reports about her from his sister Veronica Permahorn and she was duly recruited and became a very valuable agent throughout the duration of the war.

With the advent of peace, she returned to her adventurous life, visiting the most dangerous parts of the world in search of historical remains, often in the company of Sir Douglas and his sister Veronica. She also found time to be one of the founders of The League of Lady Adventurers and lists the club’s Pall Mall address as her home in England.

For reasons that have not yet been fully explained, she now finds herself on the brink of another adventure with her old chums, this time in Venice.

Veronica Permahorn

Of Sir Douglas McFaugh’s ten “wee pulin gurrrls”, six had left home before Douglas graduated from Cambridge. One ran her own school for Young Ladies in Edinburgh, one had a very successful, very select brothel in Aberdeen, one was a circus trapeze artist, one was married to a sheep farmer in New Zealand, one was an all-in wrestler in America (her story was unique) and the last one became a young widow after her wealthy husband, Ulysses B Permahorn, was eaten by a pride of lions whilst collecting beetles in South Africa. She was late on the scene of the tragedy, being more interested in big game hunting than beetles, but as she later said, “Ulysses didn’t die in vain - I managed to shoot a splendid male as he was gnawing Ulysses’ left thigh bone.”

She spent the war in Africa, after which she met Lettice and they formed the League of Lady Adventurers.

She has shared many adventures with Sir Douglas and Lettice and now is happily preparing for another unlikely adventure with them, this time in Venice

Mad Wullie McSpaniel

Wullie was born., that is incontestable. Exactly when is not known. His father was a crofter, one of the Laird of Invercockerleekie, Sir Dougal McFaugh’s, tenants. When Wullie was seven, he entered the service of Sir Dougal and his natural country-lore made him an obvious candidate to become a ghillie. He was a few years older than Sir Dougal’s only son, Douglas and they became fast friends, despite their difference in status. When Douglas went to Eton, Wullie went with him. He wasn’t told to, he just went. During Douglas’ time there, Wullie was an ever present although no-one knew where he lived or what he lived on. The same thing happened when Douglas went on to Cambridge. And again, when he moved to London as a member of the diplomatic service. At which time, the arrangement was formalised. Wullie became Douglas’ (now Sir Douglas) servant and has remained so ever since. Wullie is as tough as teak, equally at home on a barren moor, a tropical forest, a sandy desert or a dockside pub. He’s an expert tracker and a fine shot. His loyalty to Sir Douglas is unshakeable. They have been inseparable on countless adventures and Wullie is now contentedly contemplating another, this time in Venice.

Lord Snapcase, entry in Burke’s Peerage, 1925 ed.

The Honourable Willard Cornelius Waterloo Clarence Snapcase was born into the Snapcase dynasty in Peshawar, on 13th November, 1880, as the eldest son of the 9th Earl, Lord Hereward Montmorency Snapcase (1854–1925), a noted bon vivant and a celebrated gourmet and Lady Prunella St. John Faux-Quoins (1860–1943), although at the time he was widely believed to be an illegitimate son of the Prince of Wales (Edward VII as he was later to become).This heinous rumour was quashed in the famous libel case of Snapcase v. Horse & Hound (the weekly periodical). The 9th Earl was represented in court by the family lawyers, Blush, Cringe and Flinch of the Inner Temple.

Willard was educated at St. Cakes, the much-vaunted public school at Loose-Chippings, near the family seat, Snapcase Hall at Much-Piddling. From there, he went to Cocklecarrot College, Oxford, but left around 1899, just before the Second Boer War, to join the British Army. He falsified his name and age, signing up as "Trooper Snappers" in the Much-Piddling Hussars, a Yeomanry regiment raised by the Earl of Snapcase in 1797. Sometimes referred to as ‘The Earl of Snapcase’s Own’. He claimed to be 25 years old when his actual age was no more than 20.

Willard was wounded twice in South Africa early in the Second Boer War and was invalided home. His father was furious when he learned his son had abandoned his studies but allowed him to remain in the army. After another brief period at Oxford, where Louis D'Ascoyne Mazzini, 10th Duke of Chalfont was among his friends, he was given a commission in the Felpersham Peculiars. He saw action in South Africa again, and on 14th September 1901 was given a regular commission as a second lieutenant in the Mobile Bath Unit. Willard was transferred to India in 1902, where he enjoyed sports, especially shooting and pig sticking.

Snapcase’s serious wound in the Boer War (it was rumoured but never confirmed, that he had lost a testicle) instilled in him a strong desire for physical fitness and he ran, jogged, walked and played sports on a regular basis. In male company he was "a charming and erudite companion and must hold the world record for outstanding quaffage".

After his mobile bath unit was transferred to South Africa, he was promoted to lieutenant on 16 July 1904 and appointed an aide-de-camp to the commander-in-chief, Lieutenant General Sir Malteser Kenwood-Chef, the following July. He describes this period lasting up to 1914 as his "Heyday", the title of Chapter 3 of his autobiography, “Confessions of a Rough-Rider”. His light duties as aide-de-camp gave him time for fornication, another of his interests.

In 1908, he married Countess Friederike Maria Karoline Henriette Rosa Sabina Franziska Fugger von Spanckwürst (1887 - 1949), the eldest daughter of Karl, 5th Prince Fugger von Spanckwürst and Princess Eleonora zu Hohenlohe- Schamperücke und Unterer-Kitzler of Klagenfurt, Austria.

The Duke of Borchester was the honorary colonel of the Royal Borsetshire Fencibles, and from 1 January 1912 until his departure for Somaliland in 1914 Snapcase served as the regiment's adjutant.

When the First World War broke out, Snapcase was en route to British Somaliland where a low-level war was underway against the followers of Dervish leader Mohammed bin Abdullah, called the "Mad Mullah" by the British. Snapcase had been seconded to the Kebab Camel Corps. In an attack upon an enemy fort at Shimber Berris, Snapcase was shot twice in the face, losing an eye and a nostril. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) on 15 May 1915.

 

In February 1915, he embarked on a steamer heading for France. Snapcase took part in the fighting on the Western Front, commanding successively three infantry battalions and a brigade. He was wounded seven more times in the war, losing his left hand in 1915 and pulling off his fingers when a doctor declined to remove them. He was shot through the skull and ankle at the Battle of the Somme, through the hip at the Battle of Passchendaele, through the leg at Cambrai and through the ear at Arras.

Snapcase received the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for gallantry in combat against the enemy that can be awarded to British Empire forces, in 1916. He was 36 years old and a temporary lieutenant-colonel in the Mobile Bath Unit attached to the Felpersham Peculiars, commanding the Baths Tin (Officers, for the use of) Battalion, when the following events took place on 2/3 July 1916, in the opening days of the Battle of the Somme, at La Boiselle, France, as recorded in the official citation:

 

Capt. (temp. Lt.-Col.) The Honourable Willard Cornelius Waterloo Clarence Snapcase, D.S.O.

For most conspicuous bravery, coolness and determination during severe operations of a prolonged nature. It was owing in a great measure to his dauntless courage and inspiring example that a serious reverse was averted. He displayed the utmost energy and courage in ensuring that officers received the use of his tin baths. Snapcase always believed that the ORs and NCOs should also benefit from his ambulatory ablutions. However, GHQ firmly believed that allowing the men to bathe would soften morale, in much the same way as allowing them tin helmets and parachutes. Thus, it was a nolle prosequi on these matters. He frequently exposed himself in the organisation of bathing the officers and passing the carbolic soap unflinchingly through a fire barrage of the most intense nature. His gallantry was inspiring to all.

— London Gazette, 9 September 1916.

On 27 July 1920, Snapcase was appointed an aide-de-camp to the king, and brevetted to colonel. He was active in Poland in August 1920, when the Red Army was at the gates of Warsaw. While out on his observation train, he was attacked by a group of Red cavalry and fought them off with his revolver from the footplate of his train, at one point falling on the track and re-boarding quickly.

Early in 1925 Snapcase’s father, the 9th Earl died. Snapcase returned to the ancestral home of Snapcase Hall, Much-Piddling to assume the title. Some time was spent removing the bevy of ‘fallen women’ who the 9th Earl believed needed his support and charity at the Hall.

These are the men that  Willard Cornelius Waterloo Clarence Snapcase has chosen to accompany him on this daring adventure.

Diggory Venn

Diggory Venn is the local reddleman. Often to be seen on the Much-Piddling estate of Lord Snapcase, delivering his red ochre to the local sheep farmers, for that vital task of marking the sheep. He started his association with ochre down the ochre mines at Brixham, latterly working in the Barking Yards. He also sold red ochre to the local butchers, who soaked brown bread in it and made sausage rolls with the result, falsely claiming them to be beef sausage rolls. During the Great War, Diggory was conscripted into the Mobile Bath Unit commanded by Lord Snapcase and proved himself to be a very reliable Bather-Corporal (a rank peculiar to the MBU).

Uriah Heep

Uriah was a law clerk working for Blush, Cringe and Flinch of the Inner Temple. He realised that his widowed employer Jebediah Cringe had developed a severe drinking problem and turned it to his advantage. Uriah encouraged Cringe's drinking, tricked him into thinking he had committed financial wrongdoing while drunk, and blackmailed him into making Uriah a partner in his law office.

Uriah then miscalculated when he hired Mr. Micawber as a clerk, assuming Micawber would never risk his own financial security by exposing Uriah's transgressions. Yet Micawber is honest and he confronted Uriah with proof of his frauds. He let Uriah go free only after he had reluctantly agreed to resign his position and return the money that he had stolen.

Uriah was then caught up in the turbulent events of the Great War and found himself in the Mobile Bath Unit, serving under Lord Snapcase.

Noddy Boffin

Nicodemus "Noddy" Boffin was a dustman who worked for the Hamster-Crust family in Loose Chippings. The Dowager Lady Prunesquallor Hamster-Crust died and left him a very large inheritance in terms of money and a substantial house in Much-Piddling. At his wife Henrietty’s urging, he agreed to "go in for fashion", moving into the Much-Piddling house and purchasing all the luxuries money could buy. By mutual consent, Henrietty and Noddy invited Mimsie Slopcorner to live with them in a ménage à trois which shocked the staid residents of Much-Piddling. Life was going beautifully for Noddy until his conscription notice arrived, one fateful day in 1916. Serving as a Second-Doucher in the Mobile Bath Unit, he came to the notice of it’s commander Lord Snapcase, as an able and willing soldier and a dissolute rake, very much after his Lordship’s heart.