By Brad Cook

From the October 1895 issue of Vampire Monthly:

The recent untimely death of Baron Shrowdy von Kiefer has left Draxsylvania abuzz: What will become of his companion, Mona de Lafitte? I braved the lake surrounding the Baron’s castle, evading the resident monster by literally throwing a sacrificial lamb its way, and paid Mona a visit. As I stood at the front door, I could hear a woman’s soaring voice from deep within Castle Warg, singing an opera as if she was born to do nothing else.

Eventually, the source of that beautiful music opened the door and greeted me with a dour look. Was Mona still in mourning over her partner’s demise at the hands of two vampire hunters?

“No,” she replied in her lilting French accent. “I am having trouble with Rufus.”

A servant so distraught over his master’s death that he can’t do his job?

“Of course not, silly,” was the response. “He is a gargoyle statue who keeps the boathouse key in his mouth. I cannot figure out how to make him — how you say — cough it up.”

A flutter of wings interrupted her as a bat entered the room and circled us. “And we’re not making progress while you sit here yapping with this guy,” it said.

“Oh, Froderick,” Mona said in a melancholy tone. “I am afraid we may never solve this puzzle and leave the island. How I long to return to Paris.”

Escaping the Trap

I soon learned that the Baron had kidnapped Mona just as her career as an opera singer was beginning to show promise. Kept against her will, Mona was turned into a vampire. Unfortunately, she hasn’t quite accepted the transformation, despite her newfound ability to turn into a bat and her love of what she calls “wine.”

“One thing at a time,” Froderick remarked under his breath as Mona showed me around the castle. “We need to get outta here first.” He then answered the obvious question: Mona can’t fly over water, thanks to the curse placed on her by the Baron.

And, no, I couldn’t take them back with me, because that would ruin my journalistic integrity as an independent observer. “Fair enough,” was Mona’s response. Her soft sigh pulled at my heart strings, but I felt I had to draw the line somewhere.

Solving the Puzzles

During the tour, I learned much about Mona’s attempts to flee the castle. With Froderick at her side, she had begun collecting things that might come in handy: a flask of body oil, a bottle of perfume, bags of the bat’s fruits and nuts, one of his old toys, and more. She has even noted things too heavy to carry but which might prove useful later, such as a rusty sword.

Mona has figured out how to use those items in combination with each other and her environment to solve puzzles. For example, the flask of body oil helped her loosen a stuck hinge on a trap door in the torture chamber. She didn’t have enough oil for the other hinge, but she was able to use a crushing device to extract more of it from the fruits and nuts. Unfortunately, once she had the trap door open, the stench emanating from the pit below was too much for her and Rufus.

That pit is just one of several mysteries in Castle Warg, which was once controlled by the Baroness von Kiefer. She enchanted many of the things found there, so Mona hasn’t lacked for conversation partners. Ozzy the Fountain, Barb the iron maiden, and even some local rats gave her crucial information that eventually led to the identity of the gargoyle who keeps the boathouse key. Rufus, however, has proven obstinate. A statue that sits far above, next to Edgar the raven’s roost, could persuade him to spit out his prized possession if it landed on his head, but Mona has been unable to budge it.

The Setup for Act Two

With darkness beginning to fall, I bade Mona and Froderick farewell. “If you find yourself in Paris, make sure my spot at the opera has not been filled,” she said. “Forget Paris,” Froderick interjected. “Just get someone to send us a boat!” The exchange set off a round of bickering and I decided it was time to leave.

After I landed on the far shore, a gypsy woman with a thick accent approached. Her name was Madame Strigoi, and she wanted to know how Mona was faring. After I related the story, she smiled. “She will figure out the solution soon enough,” Madame Strigoi remarked. “She is a smart young woman. And when she leaves Castle Warg, I will be waiting for her. As I’ve already told her, things are about to get interesting.”

Before I could ask the woman what she meant, she was gone. I looked back across the frigid water and the castle looming above it. I realized that even once she escapes, more adventures will be in store for Mona before she can hope to reach Paris. On the chilly evening breeze, I could hear her singing once more.

A Stony Look. Mona tries to get Rufus the gargoyle statue to give her the key.

Vlad’s Landing. Vampire Monthly later received this photo of Mona in a nearby town, after she had escaped from Castle Warg.

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall... The four-way action compass lets you talk to, fly to, examine, or pick up any object.

All the News That’s Fit to Bleed. Here’s a hint: Edgar likes to read the news. You just need to find a copy of the Draxsylvania Times-Picayune.

If you liked this game, check out:

• Ankh
• Ankh II: Heart of Osiris
• BloodRayne
• Jack Keane
• Pirates of the Caribbean Online

System Requirements:

• Mac OS X version 10.4.11
• 1.33GHz PowerPC G4 processor or higher
• 512MB RAM
• 64MB video RAM (Intel GMA 950 chipset supported)
• 3GB hard disk space