Of Barons and Potions

I know why Daniel chose to drink the amnesia potion.

I've seen true evil, as Alexander himself wrote in his journal to his wife. Though perhaps Alexander did not understand that he himself was a perpetrator of far greater evils. It was he who served as the catalyst for Daniel's downfall. The Shadow sought the Orb, and the Baron used Daniel's fear of death to mold him into something dark, something sinister. A sociopath and a murder; perhaps Alexander didn't just corrupt Daniel's soul. Perhaps he turned Daniel into something like himself, something other than human.

How I came to know this and understand began as I entered the inhuman domain of The Choir. The term "Choir" refers to a part of a church, near the nave. Indeed, the area I'd just come from was referred to as the "Nave". But this was no church I found; instead I came across something less holy and more akin to the depths of Hell itself.

Upon first entering I found a note detailing a certain potion to try and help Agrippa channel his student, Weyer. Alexander has hoped to create this in order to communicate with Weyer in hopes of learning how to use the Orbs in order to travel back to his own world and to his wife.

Whatever The Baron was, he wasn't human, or from Earth. His life spanned centuries, and he took on the role of a succession of Barons over hundreds of years. He has ties to great leaders across Europe and Asia, and had his fingers in various organizations, both political and occult based. All this seemed to serve one purpose - gathering the orbs. He hoped to use them to escape from our world, his prison. Everything he did was to obtain them and learn how to use them. What they truly are I still cannot say.

Regardless, this note laid out the ingredients for the potion he spoke of. Poison fungi, vitae, and something called "tampter". He wrote that writing the word seemed wrong somehow as it didn't belong in our world. Apparently it came from the water dwelling "Kaernk" which didn't exist on Earth. It was something so alien is could not be described or even understood by human eyes.

My time in the castle had introduced me to such a creature though, one which chased me through the water and which I could not see. I found a well and attached a hunk of meat to it, lowering it into the darkness in hopes of getting something in return.

My hopes were realized. Lowering the meat into the well produced a disturbing roar and shaking of the general area. Pulling the rope up I discovered I'd exchanged my leg of meat for "Tampter" remains. Don't ask me how the biology works.

Moving on I went through the direct entrance to the Choir. It was the room where they kept future victims after transfer from the prison. Ghosts seemed to haunt the very cobblestone of each cell - though perhaps it was Daniel's old memories bubbling to the surface and causing guilt. An interesting note about the cells - they all contained a small pipe extruding from the wall. For what purpose at the time was anyone's guess. The real answer though, only further enraged me to both The Baron, and Daniel.