Cold City RPG - (P#8) Scene #5b - Going Underground Pt2

Cold City RPG

(P#8) Scene #5b - Going Underground Pt2 (#1, #2, #3, #4, #5a)

RPA agents Renoir (French), Wheeler (American), Bloom (British) and Gavril (Russian) encounter some undead Vopos officers in the tunnels of the Berlin U-Bahn.

Undead VoPo

...as Wheeler hesitated, Gavril went for the closest VoPo, smacking it hard in the face and breaking it's nose with a horrible crunching sound. Wheeler turned quickly to look for the others, but they were further down the tunnel and out of sight. No help there! 

Glancing back at Gavril, he saw the big Russian struggling to hold the creature back, so he raised his pistol and fired twice hitting a second VoPo in the arm and chest. It neither slowed nor showed signs of pain as it's arms stretched towards the American's face, plunging it's grimy thumbs into Wheeler's eye sockets.

Screams echoed down the tunnel and finally Renoir and Bloom turned back to help their colleagues. Too little, too late for Wheeler who lay motionless on the track, his eyes a bloody mess. Without a pause, Renoir and Bloom both fired into the fight, destroying one creature and wounding a second. Gavril himself had taken a few blows, but was still strong enough to twist the head from his assailant and throw it's motionless body towards the wall. The fight looked to be turning in their favour, as Renoir bent down to check the motionless Wheeler. He was dead...

Protective Goggles

The rest of the encounter became a hazy blur for Renoir as the rising Wheeler (now a zombie too) grappled him from behind and began to smash his face repeatedly into one of the U-Bahn rails. Bloom had troubles of her own to deal with as the boy Pavel (Gunter's killer?) appeared behind her. Fortunately she still had her goggles and a big Russian for protection. Gavril grabbed Pavel and Bloom injected him with a sedative, rendering the boy unconscious.

Once unconscious, the boy's hold over the animated corpse of Wheeler is broken and Renoir is saved. Exhausted and bloody the team call for the scene to be cleaned.

The Aftermath

Prisoner #8 - Classified

An RPA clean-up crew was assigned to the incident and the VoPos deaths were recorded as accidental, the unfortunate officers having been hit by a passing U-Bahn train. Renoir's injuries had him hospitalised for almost two months and during this time he and his fellow agents were interrogated and temporarily removed from all field duties within the RPA.

The RPA file records that Pvt Grey had taken illegal pictures in and around Spandau Prison during his guard duty there in January '50, before taking them to the Roth photography shop on Freidrichstraβe to be developed. One of the pictures taken looked down over the yard at Spandau and captured an image of a tattooed inmate (known only as Prisoner #8). Neither Pvt Grey, when he took the picture, nor Gunter Roth when he developed it wore any sort of eye protection and a "spark" travelled from the inmate (Prisoner #8) into the camera's film. A short time later Pvt Grey was found dead from an apparent suicide in the Havel River. Gunter Roth died whilst developing the picture and the "spark" possessed his son Pavel who fled into the Berlin U-Bahn.

Information surrounding the alien nature and origins of this "spark" have been filed as classified. 

Berlin's U-Bahn

For more on our scenarios see The Cold City Files.

The Cold City Files

We've recently concluded our first two Cold City scenarios "Prisoner #8" and "Three Gates To Darkness". I've also added an old scenario "A Mother's Love" from an earlier RPA team.

Prisoner #8 (P#8)
Prisoner #8 focuses on the investigation following the murder of a photography shop owner, Gunter Roth, in Freidrichstraβe. 

Scene #1 - Murder on Freidrichstraβe
Scene #2 - Smuts Barracks
Scene #3 - Der Regenbogen
Scene #4 - St Joseph's Hospital Morgue
Scene #5 - Going Underground Pt1
Scene #6 - Going Underground Pt2

 
Three Gates To Darkness (TGtD) 
Following months of paper-pushing the agents get a little more than they expect whilst staking-out a house on Lübeckstraβe.

Scene #1 - A Stakeout At Lübeckstraβe (coming soon)
Scene #2 - Slamming The Gate! (coming soon) 

A Mother's Love (AML)
A flagged Stasi report had indicated possible ST (modified "super" soldiers) activity in a residential zone in Haring. STs have been an ongoing issue since the war ended. The RPA field team was ordered to stakeout the location and capture the ST should the reports turn out to be correct.

Scene #1 - The Stakeout
Scene #2 - Treadsoft (coming soon)
Scene #3 - The Bunker Part 1 (coming soon)
Scene #4 - The Bunker Part 2 (coming soon)        

Cold City RPG - (P#8) Scene #5a - Going Underground Pt1

Cold City RPG

(P#8) Scene #5a - Going Underground Pt1 (#1, #2, #3, #4, #5b)

RPA agents Renoir, Wheeler, Bloom and Gavril descend into the Berlin U-Bahn tunnels.

Alerted to a disturbance in the Tempelhof Terminus U-Bahn station the agents arrive to find that two of the station's six lines have been closed and local police (Vopos) have gone into the tunnel to recover a suspected suicide.

Tempelhof U-Bahn

As ever, Agent Renoir led the way having requested that Wheeler remain in the van until they returned. Agent Wheeler was still limping heavily following his encounter with The Fatman's bodyguards, but common sense was in short supply and he elected to tag along behind the others as they entered the dark U-Bahn tunnels.

None of the team were certain that it was the boy Pavel who had been spotted in the tunnels near Tempelhof, but the atmosphere was uneasy and they all had their protective goggles to hand in case it was.

U-Bahn Tunnel at Tempelhof

A few hundred metres into the tunnel and they found the body of a tramp. It had been covered up by a Vopos overcoat, but there was no sign of the officers at the scene. The tramp looked to have been struck by a passing train, but the damage around his face, an eyes especially would warrant an autopsy to establish the actual cause of death.

A warm breeze passed through the tunnel, but provided small comfort as they moved forward to the sounds of rumbling trains entering and leaving Tempelhof. It was pitch black now, the last of the station's light lost to a curve in the tunnel. All they had were their torches.

They found the first Vopos officers lying across one of the rails his features twisted in an agonising scream of pain or terror. His service pistol lay beside him, but it had not been fired. Less than thirty feet away were his colleagues, both dead...

An Undead Vopos Officer

Agent Renoir, confident that the killer was close, upped his pace leaving the others behind. Juliet turned briefly to the other agents before running to catch up with Renoir. Agent wheeler was struggling with his injury and convinced the big Russian Gavril to carry him on his shoulders, but their pace was still slow and soon Juliet and Renoir were almost out of sight.

The noise came from behind and Wheeler, now on Gavril's shoulders struggled to turn back and see what it was. Out of the darkness shambled one of the dead Vopos officers.

Wheeler panicked shooting wildly into the dark tunnel behind him, but as Gavril eased him to the ground two more undead Vopos officers emerged into the light.

To be concluded...

Cold City RPG - (P#8) Scene #4 - St Joseph's Hospital Morgue

Cold City RPG

(P#8) Scene #4 - St Joseph's Hospital Morgue (#1, #2, #3, #5)

St Joseph's is a large complex with several hospital wings feeding from a central administration building. During the war years it lost many of it's satellite buildings, but had remained relatively intact itself. The once landscaped grounds now hold a series of temporary wards allowing the hospital to be slowly refurbished.

Dr. Lutzow

Dr. Juliet Bloom (PC and RPA agent), through an old "social" acquaintance, had arranged ID to freely access the hospital. Once there she made her way into it's basement level morgue to meet with a Dr. Horst Lutzow. 

The stairwell leading down to the basement is damp and in a poor state of repair, paint peeling from the walls. Reaching the basement level Dr. Bloom could hear the muffled hum of a generator in the distance. The corridor was cold and poorly lit, but ahead she could see a sign for the Leichenschauhaus (morgue) and followed it.

St Joseph's Hospital, Berlin

Approaching the morgue itself, she passed six or seven trolleys that lined the walls. Each trolley was occupied with a corpse and covered with an off-white sheet and she could almost taste the smell of death in the air, a sickening mix of disinfectant and decaying flesh.

A trolley in the morgue corridor

Pushing through the swinging wooden doors Dr. Bloom entered the morgue, a wide room with a small adjoining office space. Dr. Lutzow was working on the corpse of a young man, but turned to face her as the doors swung shut. "Ja? Wer bist du?" 

Juliet introduced herself and shook Dr. Lutzow's cool damp hand. She wanted to understand the reason behind Pvt Grey's death, but Dr. Lutzow visibly closed-up as she brought this up and described his death as a "drowning, death by misadventure." Backing this up he confirmed that the others who had visited him earlier could confirm his findings.

Juliet got to look at the autopsy report, but it didn't make sense. Lutzow was frightened and hiding something...

Outside agent Renoir leaned against their Jeep smoking his strong French cigarettes. Juliet shared her concerns about Dr Lutzow with him prompting Renoir to take a look for himself. 

Agent Renoir

Borrowing a white coat, Renoir went down to the morgue and found Dr Lutzow scribbling on some paperwork, the Pvt Grey autopsy report. Dr Lutzow had two copies, one that he'd showed to Juliet and one other. Renoir distracted the doctor and used his pickpocket skills to steal the two copies. Dr Lutzow had been concealing something around Pvt Grey's death, but why? Who had put pressure on him?

The real autopsy report indicated that Pvt Grey had died, not from drowning, but from damage to his occipital lobe. In particular the Brodman Area 17, the primary visual cortex at the back of the head and the optical nerve, without any apparent external trauma. Toxicology revealed no signs of alcohol or drug abuse an cause of death remained inconclusive. Dr. Bloom could confirm now that the deaths of Pvt Grey and Gunter Roth were linked.

Somewhere across the dark streets of Berlin, Gavril was helping his colleague Wheeler to walk out of a out of a Freidrichstraβe back-alley.

Cold City RPG - (P#8) Scene #3 - Der Regenbogen

Cold City RPG

(P#8) Scene #3 - Der Regenbogen (#1, #2, #4, #5)
Whilst Dr. Bloom and Renoir searched for more information on Pvt Grey at St. Joseph's Hospital morgue, Gavril and Wheeler decided to pay a visit to Der Regenbogen (The Rainbow), a jazz club off Freidrichstraβe.

Jazz at Der Regenbogen

Their plan was simple, split up and find out as much information as they could about Pavel and his whereabouts. The club was a bit of a long-shot for sure, but Pavel was known to come here a few times a week, so it was worth a look, even if only to tie up the loose ends.

Based in the Russian sector, Gavril had been to Der Regenbogen before, although only once or twice. The club is popular with the young as some good music can be heard there, but generally the place is run-down and viewed as seedy by the locals. "A place to be avoided unless looking for something from the black market." - Hans Glebb, a local business owner.

Lucky Strikes

Gavril entered first, a few minutes ahead of Wheeler, who stood across the street smoking his Lucky Strikes and shuffling nervously. Der Regenbogen was busy this evening, a droll version of Baby, It's Cold Outside playing on-stage. He made his way to the long bar and ordered a drink before sitting back and considering the scene around him. No sign of Pavel yet, but someone here will know him...

Wheeler steps into the club and noticing Gavril at the bar heads through the dimly lit tables to have a look for the boy. The Russian sector is in "brown-out" so small candles and oil lamps provide what little light is available in the smokey club. With no sign of Pavel, Wheeler passes on a chance to score some drugs and heads to the far end of the bar, engaging the barman in conversation... "I'm looking for a boy..."

The barman is suspicious, but continues to listen to Wheeler, especially interested in some photos that he claims to have. (these were the erotic pictures that Wheeler recovered from Gunter Roth's attic room). Eventually the barman concedes that he "may be able to help" A short time later Wheeler is being led upstairs to see "The Fat Man". Asking too many questions around a black market bar can be dangerous...

The "Fat Man"

The Fat Man runs the local black market from a plush set of rooms above Der Regenbogen. Speaking with a broad Russian accent he asks Wheeler why he is here and what he is looking for. The hapless agent stumbles through his reasons and The Fat Man orders his men to search Wheeler and "get rid of him". Wheeler panics and considers leaving through the second floor window. Luckily he stumbles and just takes a beating before being unceremoniously dumped with the trash at the back of the club, his photos and money gone.

Gavril too is having little luck in conversations with the other barman and decides to intimidate the man into telling him what he know about Pavel. As Gavril moves inside the bar, the man pulls a shotgun and threatens to put him down. The imposing size of the Russian agent (and some good dice rolling!) force the barman to reconsider. He puts the shotgun down and confirms that Pavel hasn't been here for a few days now.

Wisely Gavril takes this as his cue to exit.

Posted with Blogsy

Cold City RPG - (P#8) Scene #2 - Smuts Barracks

Cold City RPG

(P#8) Scene #2 - Smuts Barracks (#1, #3, #4, #5)
1018hrs Wednesday 1st February 1950, Kammergericht Building (RPA Headquarters). Dr Juliet Bloom, having cleaned up following Gunter Roth's autopsy, agrees somewhat hesitantly to contact the Smuts Barracks to lure Cpl Davey out.  

They are clearly suspicious of Cpl Davey's involvement and come up with a slightly convoluted way to get him back to HQ for questioning about the photographs found at the crime scene on Freidrichstraβe. 

Dr Bloom contacts that Barracks directly and requests that Cpl Davey be made available later this morning to get some blood test results. Arrangements are made for Cpl Davey to be picked up from the Smuts Barracks (some 10km outside of Berlin) later that morning by Renoir and Wheeler posing as the crew of a medical vehicle.

Wheeler, posing as a medic to collect Cpl Davey

A short time later, having collected Cpl Davey, Wheeler is driving them back towards Berlin and the relative security of their HQ. All isn't going quite to plan as Davey (getting a little suspicious at the responses to some of the questions) draws his service weapon and demands that they stop and let him out of the vehicle.

A flurry of action follows as Cpl Davey is restrained and choked into unconsciousness by a cool-headed Renoir. A short time later they have the Corporal tied to a chair of an interview room in the bowels of the Kammergericht.

Cpl Davey was initially unresponsive, but following hours of interrogation and drugging, he confirmed the following:

• That the photographs were taken by a Pvt Grey and not by him.
• He points out that he is in a few of the pictures along with other members of their unit who share responsibility with the other allied forces to garrison Spandau Prison.
• Their platoon have just finished their month of guard duty at Spandau. 
• Rumours of an 8th Prisoner being held at Spandau - guarded by prison officers wearing dark goggles.
  

Spandau guard goggles

On July 18, 1947 seven Nazi war criminals were brought to the Spandau Prison having been sentenced at the Nürnberg Trials. Rudolf Hess, Walther Funk, and Erich Raeder faced life sentences. Albert Speer and Baldur von Schirach faced a 20 year sentence while Konstantin von Neurath had to serve 15 and Karl Dönitz 10 years in the prison.

The four Allied powers took turns in guarding the prison. Despite the tensions between the Western Allies and the Soviets the guard duty at the Spandau Prison was never interrupted. The guarding platoon, made up by 37 soldiers and one officer, changed monthly with a change of the guard ceremony in front of the prison.

Changing of the guard at Spandau Prison

Rota for guard duty -

Britain JAN / MAY / SEPT

France FEB / JUN / OCT

Soviets MAR / JUL / NOV

USA APR / AUG / DEC

The sentries were manning six towers around the prison, but not guarding the prisoners themselves.

Cpl Davey also confirms that:

• The burnt picture would have been taken illegally, as no photographs of Spandau were permitted. (The burnt picture was taken looking down onto a courtyard. The legs of 2/3 figures are in the picture are guards with a prisoner in the exercise yard. The barrel of a British sten gun is also in shot).
• These are recent pictures (from the past week or so). 

British Berlin Infantry

It is established that Pvt Grey drowned this week, his body having been found floating in the Havel River yesterday morning when he failed to turn up for role-call. Cpl Davey described Grey as a good soldier, but that he'd not been himself over the past week, complaining about headaches and strange dreams.

Pvt Grey had even visited with his priest in recent days just before he died. His body is being held at St. Joseph's Hospital morgue and has been treated like a suicide.

The line of questioning had eased slightly by this stage as had tensions between the players and Cpl Davey, who was beginning to suspect that Pvt Grey's death may not have been a simple suicide after all. Cpl Davey mentioned that some military police had been poking around following Grey's death and had taken away some of his possessions. Although he couldn't explain why, Cpl Davey had held back some of Grey's personal effects - his camera, some private letters and some photographs. He agreed to let the team have these items if it would help their investigation.

The RPA investigation would now turn to Pvt Grey's body at St. Joseph's Hospital and following up on one of the few leads they had to find Pavel - "Der Regenbogen" (The Rainbow) a local Jazz club off Freidrichstraβe...

Cold City RPG - (P#8) Introduction / Scene #1 - Murder on Freidrichstraβe

In a bit of a step change from our usual blog posts, I invite you to step back in time with us to the year 1950 and a divided Berlin...

Cold City RPG

Cold City RPG 

Set in a slightly alternate history to our own with the raging Cold War as it's backdrop, Cold City focuses on the underground war in Berlin, 1950. 

In this divided city a multinational mix of player characters from Russia, Britain, France, America and possibly beyond form a Reserve Police Agency (RPA) field team. They are tasked to fight this secret war by hunting down the monsters left over from sinister experiments and twisted Nazi technology. 

The odds are stacked against the RPA from the beginning... ...national agendas, personal agendas, enemies everywhere... ...who will you trust?...

Das Brandenburger Tor

The Player Characters

Louis Renoir (French) played by GaryB

Former Occupation - French Spy

Current Occupation - RPA Field Agent

National Agenda - Root out corruption within the RPA. The Agency needs to function properly for the good of France.

Personal Agenda - Find out what they've done with my family.

Louis returned to his hometown after the war and years of secret service to his country. He found that his family had been branded traitors and been either murdered or taken. He will find out what happened and avenge them...

Gavril (Russian) played by TrevorH

Former Occupation - Russian Soldier

Current Occupation - RPA Field Agent

National Agenda - Report back to his "Uncle" Vasili on the activities of the British and Americans within the RPA.

Personal Agenda - Recover evidence concerning the monsters they fight in Berlin.

Gavril, superstitious from and early age, has always believed that monsters existed in some form or another. He was one of the first to enter Berlin at the end of the war and some of the things that he has found here have served only to strengthen his beliefs.

Holly Wright / Juliet Bloom (British) played by PaulineH

Former Occupation - Military Doctor

Current Occupation - RPA Field Agent

National Agenda - Recover ST technology for Britain.

Personal Agenda - Recognition from her father, a member of the RPA DC.

Being forced into marriage at the end of the war, Holly fled and created a new identity for herself in Berlin. She now works as and RPA field agent right under her father's unknowing nose.

Frank Wheeler (American) played by AndyA

Former Occupation - Redactor for US intelligence during the war

Current Occupation - RPA Field Agent

National Agenda - Recover a live specimen and arrange delivery to the Americans

Personal Agenda - They tried to kill me, but why? What did I see?

During the war Frank redacted many documents on behalf of his government, but he saw something that he shouldn't have and someone tried to have him killed for it. He knows more about the technology the Germans used during the war than most. It's all just words though... What happens when it becomes real?

(P#8) Scene #1 - Murder on Freidrichstraβe (#2, #3, #4, #5a, #5b)

Ordered to attend a 2:37am briefing below the Kammergericht Building, the field team soon found themselves in the dark snowy streets of Freidrichstraβe to investigate an unusual murder reported to the RPA by the VoPos. Wheeler engaged the two police officers outside by their Trabi and established that a Frau Gissen had reported a disturbance at the Roth & Son photography shop. On arrival the officers had found the body of Gunter Roth, but no sign of his son Pavel.

It was a cold night and both officers were wrapped up in heavy coats and smelling of alcohol. One officer in particular was nervous and the team later established that some money was missing from the shop's till. 

Sector crossing point in Berlin.

Inside Wheeler searches the shop and finds a few things of interest:

• Blood at the front step.
• "Shop" - Cash register open and empty.
• "Shop" - A framed photo on the wall of Gunter (father, mid forties) and Pavel (son, 15/16) Roth.
• "Shop" - Various pictures (previous satisfied customers?), photography equipment etc.
• "Shop" - Open Ledger highlighting sales and films left for processing. Cpl Davey, ticket #7221 is recorded there and is due to collect photos in a few days time. It had been left in on Saturday 28th of January.
  

Meanwhile, Gavril and Bloom worked the crime scene finding the mutilated body of Gunter Roth in the darkroom towards the back of the building.

• The body of Gunter Roth
• Eyes gone, look to have exploded from sockets.
• Time of death - midnight?
• Bloody floor and a UK size "7" footprint.
• Burnt photo on floor beside body
• Depicts a courtyard scene.
• Taken from a height looking down.
• Two or three figures in courtyard. Legs only as this part is burnt badly.
• Strange burning effect on photo.
• Barrel of a British Sten gun is partial in shot from wall that photo has been taken from.
• Early morning photo.
• Other photos from this batch #7221 (registered to Cpl Davey)
• Pictures of soldiers on parade and in barracks
• Barracks identified as "Smuts Barracks" near Spandau Prison
• Courtyard later identified by Arkady as within Spandau Prison.
• Cpl Davey is in a number of the shots, which means that if the photos are indeed from his camera that he didn't take all of them.

Berlin Flak Tower.

Wheeler concludes his search by moving upstairs. The bedrooms are pretty much as expected and hold no further clues, but he does find a hidden attic studio setup to take more "private" photos. Wheeler recovers a number of pornographic images, clearly Mr Roth had some sort of sideline here...

Outside, Renoir followed tracks in the snow which led to the entrance of the Unter Den Linten station. The station itself was locked up for the night, so clearly who ever had fled this way had climbed the fence and disappeared into the U-Bahn system. Glancing back towards the photography shop he pauses for a moment before climbing the gate himself. Wheeler would later join him in the U-Bahn, but they find no sign of Pavel or anyone else except the night guard on duty.

Next door Frau Gissen confirms some details shared earlier by the Vopos officers:

• She heard a scream, shouting and then another scream.
• Saw a figure (Pavel?) leaving the Photography Shop
• A little before midnight
• Father & Son got on well together. Mother is dead. Good neighbours.
• Son sometimes hangs out at Der Regenbogen (The Rainbow) Jazz Club.

The team later arrange for Gunter's body to be taken back for an autopsy and establish that:

• Confirmed time of death as being between 11pm and Midnight
• Heat/Light source cause of internal damage to frontal lobes and eyes?

A preliminary report is submitted to RPA DC member Col Arkady who reveals that the courtyard pictured is of Spandau Prison. Arkady also warns them not to take the investigation there, but to instead keep their focus on finding the boy Pavel.

 The trail in the U-Bahn is cold for now, so they elect to follow-up with Cpl Davey at the Smuts Barracks.