The Spear of Destiny The Missing Reporter The Servitors were asked by Mr Blackstone, to find a missing Soldier of God, Sammy Carter who was a reporter for the Daily Sketch. After a brief diversion to the Dog and Duck they decided to head up to the offices of the Daily Sketch in Birmingham. Arael decided to take his motorbike while the others let the train take the strain. On arrival they took rooms, rather modestly, at the Premier Inn in Exchange Square. And then, after dinner, the Servitors went out and located the offices of the Daily Sketch. They made little progress with the receptionist there however, other than confirming that Sammy had not been in the office. The Servitors then decided to try and find where Sammy lived, by the simple expedient of sending Arael whizzing round Birmingham on his bike visiting every "S.Carter" in the phone book. Eventually, eliminating all of the other candidates, he called the others and they met him outside a small apartment block in Canal Street. Making their way up to the apartment they found the door had been forced and the whole place thoroughly trashed. While the others searched the apartment, finding nothing much of interest, Miniel headed to the pub on the corner, coincidentally called the Dog and Duck. The barmaid told her that Sammy, obviously a regular, sometimes stayed at his brother's holiday place in Colwyn Bay. They also discovered from the barmaid, backed up one of Sammy's neighbours, that some "foreign gentlemen" had been looking for Sammy the previous day. Returning to their hotel rooms, Nathaniel did a quick Land Registry search and discovered the address of a house belonging to Reginald Carter on the outskirts of Colwyn Bay. Next morning the Servitors found themselves in a hired SUV heading up the M54 towards Wales, Arael trailing along on his bike. They arrived at the address, an ultra-modern chalet bungalow facing on to the the bay, to find both a beat-up Fiesta and a shiny Mercedes SUV parked outside. While Marachael started heading up the pathway, and Arael began making his way round the back, Kelogiel went to check out the SUV to find the engine still warm. Suddenly the more perceptive of the Servitors felt an all too familiar disturbance in the Symphony - a human had just died nearby! Marachael accelerated up the pathway, barely staggering as a shot was fired somewhere nearby and a bullet slammed into his shoulder. Miniel followed, cutting across the garden. Nathaniel, pausing only to sing the Ethereal Song of Form, did also. Kelogiel meanwhile knelt and let down one of the tires on the SUV. Marachael arrived at the front of the house at speed and immediately crashed bodily through the glass pane to the side of the door. He immediately came under fire from two assailants. As Nathaniel followed Marachael, Miniel spotted someone lurking in the bushes holding a gun and charged at them. The Berlin Institute Miniel charged the two gunmen in the bushes, using the Celestial Song of Charm to disable the nearest, Haviel then strode forward and used the Corporeal Song of Harmony to take out the other. Inside the house Marakiel managed to wrestle to gun from one of the gunmen, while Nathaniel found himself staring downthe barrel of a gun pointed directly at his head. Before the gunman could pull the trigger there was a sound like the distant chiming of a bell, and the smell of incense filled the room. The gunman turned wild-eyed - and emptied his clip across the room at something only he could see. Haviel then stepped forward to the front door and, looking at the fighting inside, sighed heavily and began the Ethereal Song of Harmony. Immediately the combatants seemed to lose interest in the fight and the gunmen fled, or rather, pretty much wandered off aimlessly. Searching the house Haviel found the body of Sammy slumped over his typewriter. He appeared to have been working on a story on a German company - VolkerKorp. VolkerKorp as a company appeared to have a somewhat curious mix of interests, primarily weapons development and biomediucal research. The company appeared to have a somewhat dubious past, stretching all the way back to World War 2. They also found three dossiers on the last three CEOs of VolkerKorp - all members of the Volker family. The Sevitors noted the remarkable similarities between the three men. Miniel also found a shoebox stuffed with typewritten papers with scrawled annotations. The Servitors eventually decided to return to Birmingham. Study of the documents in the shoebox revealed the main subject of Sammy's investigation was a series of archaeological digs sponsored by VolkerKorp over the last few years. The digs were all related to WW2 sites including a sunken U-boar in the North Sea, a dig somewhere inn the alps where some old files had been recovered. The most recent was an excavation in Danzig at the site of a old bombed building, where a number of bodies were recovered and were taken to the VolkerKorp Biomedical Research Institute in Berlin. The archaeological team then apparently headed to South America, but there was no further information. Nathaniel tried to find out more about some of the digs by trawling the net, but didn't come up with much more information, other than the address of the Institute in Berlin. Next morning, after some debate about where to go and what to do next, they decided to head for Germany. Most of the Servitors booked a flight for later that day, but Arael decided to ride there on his bike. Arriving in Berlin, the Servitors headed for an industrial estate in the former eastern sector of berlin. Amidst a sea of grim concrete warehouses, the Volker Institute sat like a gleaming glass jewel, set in parkland. The Servitors watched the building for some time until most of the workers left for the day. At about nine in the evening the Servitors shifted to their celestial forms and flew into the rear of the building. In one of the empty offices they shifted back into their vessels. Using the computer on the desk, Nathaniel managed to hack the computer system and managed to loop the internal cameras. He also manged to obtain a schematic of the building and noted that the labs on sub-level 2 were isolated from the rest of the building both physically and electronically. The Servitors immediately decided to head there! Using their celestial forms, it was easy to bypass all the physical security isolating the sub level which consisted of a wide foyer and extensive lab area and a third, even more secure area that looked more like a mortuary. The mortuary lab contained two mortuary tables, a desk with a stand-alone computer and filing cabinet, and a series of fridges build into the wall. Haviel opened the fridges. Three of them were occupied with old bodies stinking of formaldehyde. All the bodies had suffred severe trauma injuries, presumably when the building had been bombed. All all the bodies had also undergone significant surgeries with multiple artificial replacements of what looked like primitive an unwieldy bionics. The filing cabinet contained numerous old paper files, dating back to the war, although all were in German, judging by the pictures and schematics they seemed to relate to primarily to the development of "super-weapons" like the V-weapons. There was also several documents relating to something called Operation Traumwelt which originated with the Ahnenerbe. Finally manging to bypass the security on the computer, Nathaniel found itself to be a stand-alone isolated from the company network. It primarily contained scans of the files in the cabinet, autopsy and analysis reports on the corpses and well as scans and schematics of the various crude implants they had received. Finaly there was data on some of the digs were various items had been recovered. Including the one excavation, in Poland, only mentioned briefly in Sammy's notes, somewhere in Poland near the village of Wulfsburg on Lake Leba. Satisfied with what they had found the Servitors began to assume celestial form and leave, as they were doing so Haviel and Miniel noticed the security cameras in the room and suddenly remembered what Nathaniel had said about this sub-level being isolated from the systems he had hacked upstairs. In an attempt to cover their tracks, Haviel set a fire, using the formaldehyde infused corpses as accelerants, and they departed the building to the sound of fire alarms blaring! Wulsfburg The Servitors waited in the parkland outside the Volker Institute and watched as a couple of fire engines arrived and then departed an hour or so later. They were preparing to leave the area when Arael called to advised he'd arrived in Berlin and they arrange to meet at thit hotel near the airport. Once ensconced in their rooms they began to review the documents, Arael using the Corporeal Song of Tongues to translate them. As well as more recent files relating to the some of digs that had been undertaken,  there was fairly detailed information about all of the digs save the last one in South America. Concentrating on the Wulfsburg site Nathaniel discovered that Wulfsburg was, or had been, a small village in Poland. The village had been destroyed when the nearby castle which had ben used by the SS as part of the V-weapons programme was destroyed in an Allied bombing raid in 1945, though it was noted that the village's medieval church, dedicated to St.Longinius, had survived the raid miraculously untouched. Coincidentally the castle and the surrounding estate had been the ancestral seat of the Volker family. The scans of the older documents that had been in the filing cabinet, related to something called Operation Traumwelt - Operation Dreamworld. The documents were records from an Ahnenerbe operation during to war to construct a device capable of opening a physical portal to the Marches. In order to power the device a powerful artefact would be needed. The document concluded that the most available one to the Nazis being the Spear of Destiny which, as it had last been known to  in the possession of the Teutonic Knights, was believed to be somewhere in Germany. Next morning the Servitors hired a car and set out for Poland, the village was on the shores of Lake Leba near Gdansk and it took them about 5 hours along the motorways to get there.  Arriving at lunchtime they parked at a car park on the lakeside near where locals were picnicking and scoped out the area. They Volker estate was heavily forested, although the ruined castle could be clearly seen on the hilltop. It was also walled, as well as the ruins of the castle, the village seemed to be within estate grounds, road to it gated and barred. Arael and Marachael also noted what appeared to be filaments electric wire running through the top of the wall - although there was a distinct lack of warning signs. After heading back to the car and buying lunch from the Bratwurst van, the Servitors, with the exception of Marachael,  found a quiet spot and went celestial, bypassing the wall, and returning to their corporeal vessels when inside the forest.  Marachael decided to swim round the wall and approach from the lake. After barely avoiding getting entangled in what looked like anti-submarine netting he made his way ashore, only to be immediately confronted by two security guards - though they looked more like riot police than security guards! Marachael immediately hit them with the Song of Thunder, stunning them and knocking them to the ground. The other servitors sensing the thunderous disturbance in the Symphony ran toward the lake, finding Marachael tying up the guards with their own belts. When Miniel suggested removing their boots as well, much to his comrade's horror, Marachael did so by the simple expedient of drawing his sword and chopping their feet off! Kelogiel dashed forward singing the Corporeal Song of Healing, probably saving the hapless guards life, and still somewhat shocked by the Malakite's actions they began moving silently through the forest. They arrived at the village, to find it was virtually all still ruins, though one of the larger buildings had bee restored. The village was dominated by the huge church, a cathedral almost, to the east at the foot of the hill the ruins of the castle lay atop. It was clear that the church was unused with up chains and heavy padlocks on the doors. As they watched the village, a couple of guards came out of the restored building and talking urgent in Polish into a walkie-talkie began heading down the path to the lakeside. Realising it was only a matter of time before the wounded guards were discovered, the Servitors melted back deeper into the forest but where they could keep a clear view of the village. A few moment later one of the guards came running back and more guards began piling out of the building. Most headed back down the path, but two, curiously went to check the locks on the church! About 20 minutes later two ambulances accompanied by a police car arrived on the scene. Once the wounded guards were removed the remaining guards began searching the area, two always remaining near the church. Fortunately the Servitors managed to avoid discovery and over the next few hours watched covertly as  things began to settle down. Around sunset one of the guards went in to through the vestry entrance and suddenly the exterior of the church was brilliantly illuminated by floodlights. The Servitors continued their over watch for several more hours until, Arael, who had been fidgeting impatiently for some time, suddenly could take the waiting no more - he went celestial and flew inside the church. The church appeared to be empty and he returned to his corporeal vessel and began to explore. Apart from the wide empty spaces the only thing of significance was that the altar area had been fenced-off with wire fence panels and there generator nearby was feeding current into the fence. Behind the altar, part of the floor had been removed revealing a void below. The resulting hole had been covered over with another panel of  wire fencing that had been bolted down to the floor. Arael decided to turn off the generator so he could peer down the hole. Outside, the floodlights abruptly cut-off and guards began rapidly making their way to the church. They unlocked the main doors this time and entered - all were armed. Hearing their approach, Arael hid in the vestry. Two of the guards approached the generator and after a muttered conversation in polish, that seemed more fearful than angry, restarted it. The guards, after securing the church once more returned to their posts. Arael waited half an hour then turned off the generator again. This time the guards on entering the church began a thorough search of the building - including the vestry! As the vestry door opened, Arael stepped back activating his fiery blade, the guards gasped and cried out in fear,reflexively pulling the trigger on their guns. As the bullets ripped into him Arael charged forward. Outside, in the forest, the other servitors heard the gunfire and ran out of the trees towards the church. As they arrived at the doors, there was a second burst of gunfire and then silence. The Crypts Beneath Marachael charged forward igniting his flame blade and attacked one of the guards. Miniel realising they were facing  humans, and unable to bring to harm them, immediately surrendered. Nathaniel began trying to sidle through the darkness but was spotted by one of the guards rushing to the aid of their comrade facing the wrath of Marachael.  Kelogiel meanwhile still outside, moved across to the side entrance and began picking the arduous task of picking the padlock on the door. One of the guards fell before Marachael's blade the others opened fire on him, Nathaniel took the opportunity to head back outside at speed, while Miniel looked on helplessly, hands cuffed. Suddenly the voice of Haviel filled the air as the calming notes of the Ethereal Song of Harmony filled the empty church. The guards immediately lost interest in fighting and gathering up their fallen comrade left the church. Haviel barred the door behind them.   Meanwhile, Kelogiel had finally managed to get the side-door open and  discovered Arael, his vessel bleeding out on the floor. As Miniel healed the fallen Arael, Marachael went celestial and flew down the hole behind the altar, discovering what felt like a large dark void, though as it was unlit he could see little else. He returned to report back to the others. Reporting back they decided to remove the barriers and investigate what lay beneath the church. The servitors dropped one by one into the void and as torches were lit they found themselves in a large vaulted stone room. Niches in the walls where one bodies had laid were empty. There was a sense of profound wrongness in The Symphony in this area that did not bode well.  The remains of a stone staircase lay to one side and there were a couple of crates marked "University of Stuttgart" in which they found a couple of hard-hats and some storm lanterns. in one corner some older broken crates marked with swastikas lay discarded. A single exit led from the room. Arael led the way up the corridor which led to a v-shaped intersection guarded by an old stone statue of a crusading knight. As Arael examined the statue, storm-lantern held aloft, the silence was abruptly broken by the staccato sound of gunfire echoed from the right-hand corridor and bullets ripped into him. Marachael quickly pulled the hapless Ofanite back into the corridor, and out of the line of fire. Miniel tossed her storm-lantern down the corridor the shots had come from . The storm-lantern illuminated three figures clad in tattered Wehrmacht uniforms carrying machine guns. Their eyes seemed to glow unnaturally and, like their uniforms, what flesh was visible hung in tatters - undead! Marachael charged forward immediately to confront the abominations, calling his friends to battle. Strangely Kelogiel was first to respond charging forward and punching one of the zombies. Miniel and Arael followed, igniting their swords. Haviel and Nathaniel took advantage of this to  explore the left passage finding the a large burial vault where they found the remains of the archaeologist's campsite. By the time they had searched the area and returned, their friends had disposed of the zombies and the Servitors moved on, Haviel switching to his cat vessel, to see better in the dark. A short passage led to a huge room with tree more Nazi zombies which were quickly destroyed.. This space had  obviously once been a workroom, with rusted machinery to one side and a number of stone sarcophagi which had been crudely converted to work-benches. A open passageway led to the north while a second passageway to the east had  by a partially open heavy steel gate. Haviel spotted more zombies heading down the passageway and urgently hummed a warning to the others, Nathaniel dashed forward and slammed the heavy steel gate shut, hearing a satisfying click as it locked into place. The northern exit led, past a large passageway filled with rubble,  to a staircase that descended down. As they descended, the air felt somehow clearer and the Servitors could sense a vibration in the Symphony, a melody that felt somehow familiar. The staircase opened into a large vaulted room in the centre of which was a rectangular pool of water, which seemed to glow faintly. On the far side of the pool the wall was carved with a Latin inscription in the centre of which was an empty niche. As they stood, those familiar with it, suddenly recognised the music they perceived in the Symphony as as an echo of the Song of Healing. Arael leaped into the pool and immersed himself, finding his many wounds healed, and the others followed suit. Once healed, Marachael immediately announced he was heading off to deal with the remaining zombies, and departed up the staircase purposefully, igniting his blade. The others continued to investigate the room, Arael sang the Corporeal Song of Tongues and translated the text:     The Spear of the Centurion St.Longinus thrust into Our Saviour's side at the crucifixion.     Placed here by the Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem in the Year of Our Lord 1230 U237 After leaving the crypt and resting overnight in a hotel  in Gdansk, the Servitor's  next move was to get on flight from Gdansk to the Kriegsmarine Archives in Freiburg, where Kelogiel managed to get them access. There, browsing the official records,  they discovered the strange career of the U237 which apparently had been sunk twice in dry-dock and never actually sailed on a mission! This conflicted with the information in Sammy's papers so, next day, the Servitors decamped to Stuttgart to see what they could find out about  Dr.Harz's apparent expedition to the wreck of the U-boat  in the North Sea. They discovered that the expedition had been based in the town of Mandal  on the southern tip of Norway. The Servitors decided to drive there and, after an overnight stop in Sweden, arrived in the picturesque town around lunchtime. Marachael immediately headed down to the marina and began questioning the owners of the boats moored there. Kelogiel went to the harbourmasters office to see what he could find there, while the ethers explored the town and sorted out accommodations. Eventually they tracked down Nils Andersen who had charted his boat to Dr.Harz for her "dig". He offered to take the Servitors out to the wreck site next morning. They duly set of at dawn and hove-to about 5miles off the coast, near a small island. The site was marked by a small buoy, and Nils told them that Dr. Harz and had team had undertaken several dives over a two week period and recovered several small artefacts from the wreck, but seemed most interested in a documents surviving - particularly the logbook. Marachael went celestial and headed down to the wreck discovering it was largely intact. After discussion they decided to head to the nearest larger town to see in they could find a dive-shop and buy or rent some gear. Nils, obligingly took them to Stavanger along the coast. After arranging accommodation in the city they located a dive-shop and arranged hire of equipment and also a boat to take them back to the dive site. Over the next couple of days, Kelogiel and Miniel dived down to the wreck, searching through the  fine silt that stirred into clouds at the slightest touch. On the second day in they found a waterproof container nestled in a crevice in a cabin near the stern, almost as if it was deliberately hidden. The seal on the container appeared intact, promising that its contents have been preserved from the ravages of time and water. They returned to their hotel and Marachael forced the container open. Wrapped in oilcloth within was a diary, its cover made of a dark, weathered leather that had resisted the elements thanks to the waterproof container. The leather was etched with the faint imprint of an emblem, perhaps the crest of the U-boat or its commanding officer. The pages within were yellowed with age, but remarkably well-preserved. The diary belonged to Lieutenant Ernst Bayer and detailed the U237's last mission to Cape Krasinsky in Antarctica and then the boat being scuttled on return after news reached the crew that the war was lost. Realising that mounting an expedition to Antarctica was a bit beyond their means, Miniel called the enigmatic Mr. Blackstone at the bookshop who told them he would make arrangement and to get themselves to Tierra del Fuego. Three days later, after picking up cold weather gear and supplies in Buenos Ares, the Servitors arrived in the small village of  San Sebastian. There was a British Antarctic Survey ship moored offshore and its captain came ashore to meet them commenting on how they must have some serious clout to have arranged for his ship to be diverted to pick them up. Several days later the ship dropped them and their supplies off and what he captain said was an abandoned 19th century whaling station. As the ship sailed away promising to return in a week, the Servitors settled into clearing snow from the ruins, which on closer examination looked more recent than a 19th century. The wharf itself was concrete and also showed sign of recent repair. The landscape was desolate, little but snow and rock. It was freezing cols and the wind howled along the coastline,  flurrying the snow around them constantly. And, as they had read in the diary, there was also the eerie feeling of being watched. As they settled into their on-man survival tents in the still light one Servitor remained awake and on guard. On Kelogiel's watch several hours later something erupted out of the snow attacking him. It looked like a huge, cybernetically enhanced dog with  steel jas that biot into his shoulder and then wrenched. Kelogiel managed to shout for help and drive his sheath knife into the creature, hitting metal beneath the flesh. The creature shower no reaction to the stab wound! Nathaniel, Miniel and,  eventually Marachael, rallied to help him. While Miniel and Marachael despatched the loathsome creature with their fiery swords, Nathaniel used the Song of Healing to fix Kelogiel's mangled arm. The Traum Portal After putting the campsite back together, the Servitors decided to rest, Marachael taking up the guard duty. As he whiled through the next several hours till "dawn" Marachael grew increasingly uncomfortable perceiving a vague discordant hum in the Symphony  that grated on his nerves. He pointed it out to the others as he awoke them, but none of the others could sense what he did. They set off, Miniel trying to back-track the robot-dog and eventually leading them to what was clearly a road buried under a thin layer  snow, leading up the headland. As the road led upwards they were attacked by another robot-dog but Miniel and Marachael swiftly dealt with it. The road ended at a huge set of metal double doors set into the hillside.  Kelogiel looked for some way of opening the doors, but could not find anything resembling a control panel, through Nathaniel did find a camouflaged air-vent. As they pondered their next actions the huge doors ground haltingly, stopping partially open. Two figures, similar to the bodies they had seen in Berlin and described as "super-soldiers" in the documents,  appeared of the the darkness within. They men were heavily muscled with odd bulky looking cyber implants all over their body, including what looked like a bulky mini-gun where their right arm should be! They immediately opened fire with a hail of bullets. As Kelogiel and Nathaniel took cover, Marachael and Miniel charged forward, igniting their flame blades, which fortunately proved quite effective against the hulking figures. Stepping over the bodies the Servitors entered into a large dark hanger-like space beyond. Almost immediately they stumbled onto another corpse, this one clad in a white lab-coat, had a contorted look on his face. Examining the corpse, Marachael advised that the unfortunate had likely been gassed - and recently at that as there was little sign of decomposition. The Servitors moved deeper into into the dimly lit complex, discovering there were more bodies strewn everywhere throughout the corridors and rooms. All of the Servitors were  now able to perceive the discordant hum, Marachael had noticed earlier. Kelogiel commented  that something somewhere was drawing an immense amount of power. They went deeper, disposing of another two of the hulking guards. Before moving on, Kelogiel and Nathaniel wrenched the mini-guns from the dead super-soldiers, though they had little skill with such weapons it was something! They found the source of the hum - and the power drain - in a huge room. A huge circular device rotated at the far end, in the centre suspended was the Spear! As it rotated, at it's centre, a vortex of energy spun within. Standing next to it, in full SS dress uniform stood Volker himself! Volker calmly regarded them and smiled, saying "I have been expecting you!" He clicked his fingers and five more super-soldier stepped out to confront them. Unlike the ones they had dealt with earlier, these looked sleek and modern and moved with a stealthy grace rather than the lumbering movements of the earlier ones. They were armed with razor-sharp blades, and Marachael and Miniel ignited their own blades and battle was joined. Nathaniel and Kelogiel fired at their opponents but their lack of skill with the heavy machine guns proved telling, their shots going wild. Marachael and Miniel were faring slightly better as their opponents armour had only limited effectiveness against the flame blades.Realising he was not really helping, Nathaniel abandoned the gun and sang the Corporeal Song of Forms and, going invisible, concentrated on keeping his comrades alive. Kelogiel sang the Ethereal Song of Motion and floated up towards the ceiling, firing the occasional burst. Marachael disengaged from one of the super-soldiers and charged towards the Traum Portal only to find himself blocked. Someone, Volker presumably, was protecting the huge device with the  Corporeal Song of Shields. Volker calmly drew his pistol and shot the Malachite, signifying one of the super-soldiers next him to attack as well. Seeing Marachael baulked, Miniel immediately went celestial and easily bypassed Volker's shield. Immediately returning to corporeal form Miniel tried to grasp the rotating Spear. As he did, he could see the Vortex stabilising and a huge army massed beyond waiting to come through. Volker seeing, Miniel grasp the Spear manifested wings and flew over and attacked, leaving two super-soldiers to deal with Marachael. Seeing this and realising their opponent was no longer maintaining the song of Shields, Kelogiel flew above the huge device and began firing into it! Miniel, grasping the Spear, wrenched it out of the centre of the Portal, which immediately closed! He then swan-dived through the centre rolling to his feet on the other side. Volker with an incoherent cry of rage pursued, attempting to wrest the Spear back. Marachael, healed once more by Nathaniel despatched another two of the super-soldiers while Kelogiel continued to spew a hail of lead into the delicate mechanisms of the Traum Portal, which shuddered and ground to a halt, spewing fragments of metal everywhere. Volker, distracted momentarily perhaps, by the destruction of his machine, let go his grip on the Spear and turned towards the wreckage, Miniel took the opportunity to thrust the Spear viciously into the demon's side - instantly slaying his vessel! The Servitors barely had time to gather their breath -  and turn to face the remaining super-soldiers - when Kelogiel suddenly realised that the vast amount of power that had been being consumed by the Traum Portal now had nowhere to go and, calling a warning to his friends that they needed to get out, went celestial. The other Servitors heeded their advice and fled. As they  reassumed corporeal form back at their campsite, the ground shook with a muffled explosion and half of the headland collapsed in on itself! A week later they found themselves back in the bookshop in London handing the Spear over to Mr Blackstone. After advising them that the Spear would be returned to the church in Wulfsburg, which would now become Tether with a Seneschal appointed to guard it, Mr Blackstone informed them that their Superior's were most pleased with them.