Natalia Petrovna’s Mansion is a manor in the northwest suburbs of Uchronic Bucharest, near a cemetery, the residence of the vampire Natalia Petrovna and the base of the Circle of the Serpent in the city. It is where the Black Mass of 4 July 1901 took place and where Natalia was destroyed.
| Type | Place |
| Location | Northwest suburbs of Bucharest, near a cemetery |
| Residents | Natalia Petrovna; her husband Colonel Apis |
| Setting | Uchronic Paris |
| Spanish entry | Mansión de Natalia Petrovna |
Description
A large, isolated estate of high lineage in Austro-Hungarian Gothic style, reached by secondary roads. It was possibly a residence of the “Polar Princes”, a noble family linked to Romania and Serbia.
- Main hall (third floor or upper level): black velvet covering ceiling and walls and falling onto a carpet of the same material; scarlet candelabra; a church bell, possibly from an integrated chapel; a closed balcony with scarlet panes.
- Ceremony room: site of the Black Mass, presumably with a sacrilegious altar.
- Cellars: damp and dark, with several coffins (some empty, some holding vampires), holy water, a maze of passages and possibly an underground chapel.
- Adjoining houses: a “maze of houses with glass panes” connected to the mansion.
Role
The mansion is the Circle of the Serpent’s administrative, ritual and power center in Bucharest, and Natalia’s residence: she rests there in a coffin between activities.
History
André Bar named the mansion as the place of a night meeting. At midnight the Time Bandits infiltrated it on his information and found the Black Mass under way: a ceremony with children dressed as “bridegrooms” and sacrilegious chalices, presided over by Natalia, with the apparent aim of a vampiric sacrifice or “ritual marriage”. Claude Nauge and Corvino chose to fight at once.
In the main hall the group fought Natalia, a corrupt Orthodox priest with a rifle, pale cold guards and possibly shadowy entities. Hypnotized by Natalia, André Bar attacked Claude. Badly wounded by magical shots from Philippe, Natalia took gaseous form and fled to the cellars. The group found her weakened in her coffin; Claude drove an improvised stake through her heart, and Corvino and Aby beheaded her and sprinkled her with holy water. A local priest was bribed to perform a discreet Orthodox rite, and her body was buried or disappeared. Magical trophies recovered there were later studied, and the intelligence gathered shaped further operations.
Open questions
- Whether the “Polar Princes” were former owners is unconfirmed.
Gallery
