The Diary of the Journey

This diary narrates the events which eventually led to the starting point of this RPG!

May it be a help and of great value to old and new players! ===================================================================

MARCH 1885 - LONDON ENGLAND

Thursday 7 :  Lela Baines, a prostitute and patient of Henry Jekyll, is killed by Edward Hyde. She and her husband/pimp had by accident found out the secret of Jekyll and Hyde. Pressed by her husband, Lela had tried to blackmail Dr. Jekyll.

Saturday 9 : A boy is cut by Hyde and his handkerchief gets bloody.

Sunday 10:  Awakening, Jekyll remembers what Hyde did the previous night. The chamber maid Mary finds the bloody handkerchief but keeps this secret. Later that day Jekyll changes into Hyde again. He realizes he needs more and more of the formula to revert back to himself.

Monday 11:  In the morning, Mary meets Hyde in the lab for the first time . He trampled a little girl the night before. The transformation from Jekyll to Hyde starts to occur involuntarily. Due to this Jekyll cuts himself later that day in the lab. This blood is detected by Mary but again, she keeps silent about it.

Doctor Jekyll has to visit a patient that day, an urgent case of a sick child, and is accompanied by Mary. The treatment is successful but Jekyll feels the impatience of Hyde and has to leave. He reaches his lab just in time before he changes into Hyde. When Mary enters the lab she meets Hyde for the second time.

At night, Hyde kills Lela Baines' husband, who also knows or suspects Hyde's secret.

Tuesday 12 : Lela Baines' body is found by the police. The news spread fast and soon reach also Henry Jekyll. He has slept most of the day, feeling tired and having regrets. He comes to the conclusion that he has to find a new potion, a remedy that will have the effect of an antidote. Jekyll drinks it and soon feels better.

He is interrogated by Anselm White, a police officer, about the murder as he was Lela Baines' practitioner. Later, his friend Gabriel Utterson calls on him, while Henry is still being questioned by the policeman. Utterson doesn't stay long, but realises how worn his friend still looks. They agree to have dinner the upcoming Thursday.

Wednesday 13: The antidote Jekyll took the previous day proves to be effective. He feels much better, more energetic, even younger - and his hair is getting slightly darker. Jekyll decides to shave his beard. The kitchen maid Alicia is introduced to the household and major repairs and cleaning of the house is planned.

Gabriella Blake gets blackmailed by an infamous lawyer, Mr. Hereford.

Thursday 14:  For the first time in almost a year, Jekyll starts seeing patients again. He realizes that one patient of his, Mrs. Hereford, has been beaten by her husband.

In the evening Utterson arrives for dinner. An enjoyable evening until Utterson starts speaking about Jekyll's wish to change his will in favour of Edward Hyde. They have an ugly argument, raising their voices, and Jekyll finally loses his control and slams the lawyer against a wall. Nobody but Alicia witnesses this. Utterson agrees to change the will, though he keeps suspicious.

Gabriella requests the help of a man from her past; Frederick Hawthorne.

Friday 15 : Jekyll visits Utterson in his office, bringing him a bottle of good old wine, and they make friends again. The lawyer changes the will in favor of the doctor's assistant. In the evening Sir Danvers Carew and his niece Cordelia have dinner at Jekyll's. Jekyll is spellbound by the beautiful and extraordinary young woman.

Saturday 16: The laundry maid Bet is introduced to the household. Gabriella Blake calls on Jekyll, who wants to help her friend Mrs. Hereford. After 20 years, Jekyll takes up fencing again. In the evening he goes to his lab where he changes into Hyde. Bet faints in the courtyard, scared by Hyde.

Utterson, who has been determined to find out more about the assistant, is waiting for him at the back door of the lab. Approaching him he accomplishes nothing, and though Hyde tries to restrain himself, the feeling of danger coming from him is palpable. Hyde visits the 'Red Rat' where he sees Lucy perform but he hardly has the time to introduce himself before he gets into a fight with Spider's men. He loses a scarf with Henry Jekyll's initials which Lucy finds later on.

Sunday 17:  Jekyll sleeps long and does nothing special except for a walk with Gabriel Utterson and cleaning his lab.

Monday 18: Jekyll visits St. Jude's hospital. A place he hasn't been to since making his proposal 929. In the evening he attends an Opera together with Cordelia. Their strong feelings for each other lead to a first kiss. Returning home that night Jekyll finds Bet waiting for him. She has had a precognitive dream about Molly, a friend of hers, and together they save the girl from drowning in the River Thames.

Gabriella and Frederick plot against Mr. Hereford, and manages to lure him into their trap and get their revenge. They spend a passionate night together for the first time in many years. The meeting wakes long-hidden emotions in Gabriella.

Tuesday 19:  Jekyll sends Cordelia flowers and visits her Uncle Sir Danvers Carew at St. Jude's hospital. He sees patients and has lunch with Utterson where he confesses his feelings for Cordelia.

Wednesday 20:  Alicia thinks of having a garden in the courtyard and makes first plans. Jekyll sees his patient Mrs. Hereford who tells him that her husband has stopped beating her. Later that evening Jekyll gets an emergency call. Molly, the girl whose life he saved two days ago, has become ill. Accompanied by Bet he goes to see her. He treats her but she loses the child she was expecting. Bet stays over night with Molly.

On his way home Jekyll is attacked by a robber. He is filled with a Hyde-like rage and brutally beats the man down. Deciding that he needs a drink, he enters the "Devil's Draft", owned by Frederick Hawthorne. There he meets Lucy who has an evening off and is doing some business on her own. They spend a few hours together, leaving Lucy with feelings she shouldn't have as a prostitute for a customer.

Thursday 21: Jekyll holds a well-attended lecture at St. Jude's. There, he is approached by a young woman, Jacqueline Renard, who introduces herself as his cousin. She faints at the toast afterwards and is brought home. Jekyll has tea with Cordelia and later goes to see to Jacqueline. He takes a blood sample from her and is given a letter, revealing that Jacqueline's mother and his father had a brief affair. They are related, being half-brother and sister. Jekyll takes a carriage, and on his way home he has to fight Hyde who wants to come out. At home he analyses the blood sample and detects that his half-sister suffers from a very rare blood condition.

Lucy meets Simon Stride, the man who was engaged with Emma Carew until she found him with the maid Molly in a delicate situation. This was the reason for Emma traveling abroad.

Friday 22: Jekyll buys a ring which he intends to present Cordelia at the right time and writes a poem to her. He also gets a pair of earrings for Lucy which he has a young boy deliver. Lucy suspects the origin but doesn't know for sure. In the evening, Jekyll transforms into Hyde, taunting the servants and meeting Utterson, who had asked for this meeting to get to know Hyde better, though the lawyer was expecting that Jekyll would also attend. Hyde takes the lawyer to a club, 'The Garden of Eden', where he makes him drink Champagne and Absinthe and buys him a woman.

Bradshaw, who had seen Hyde touching Alicia, plays the fiddle for the servants to calm everybody. Later Bradshaw goes out for a walk but gets into a fight and Hyde saves him from being robbed. Bradshaw is badly beaten and collapses at home. Alicia spends the night watching over him. Hyde visits Lucy in the 'Red Rat' and spends some time with her, but he gets jealous of Jekyll and becomes violent with Lucy. He comes close to killing her.

Saturday 23:  Jekyll interviews the newest member of the household, the errand boy Peter. Lucy calls on Jekyll, to have her wounds, caused by Hyde, treated. Jekyll has a bad conscience about what Hyde has done to Lucy. But seeing Lucy again, Jekyll can't restrain his desire for her and they have a wonderful half an hour together in the consulting room. Lucy returns the scarf to Jekyll, realizing that he knows Hyde and warns Jekyll about him. Later that day Simon Stride visits Lucy, having his fun with her in a sadistic and cruel way.

Bradshaw is injured and the Doctor's orders is that he has to stay in bed for the day. He knows that Alicia spent the whole night at his side. Shy as they are, Bradshaw and Alicia promise each other to spend more time together. Utterson calls on Jekyll and tells him what happened to him the previous night. He confesses to his friend that he feels responsible for the death of his father and fiancée 28 years ago.

Bet receives a letter from Emma Carew, finding a 20 pound note attached. She has doubts if leaving the Carew household was the right decision.

Sunday 24:  Peter sets the rosebushes which Bradshaw got for Alicia in the garden. Bradshaw is allowed to get up again and he spends some time with Alicia in the garden where they almost kiss. But they are interrupted by Bet, who storms out of the laundry, having had a vision she can't explain to herself.

Jekyll proposes marriage to Cordelia and she accepts. The engagement party will be the upcoming Friday, the wedding four weeks later. When Jekyll informs his staff later that day, Mary overreacts and storms out of the room, determined to leave the household.

Lucy gets punished by Spider, because she has been late again. She talks back to him and spends a dreadful night locked up in her room, the door only being opened once to let a disgusting customer in.

Utterson goes to the 'Garden of Eden' again, seeing the lovely woman Marya. His life has changed since the night out with Hyde.

Monday 25: Jekyll has involuntarily changed into Hyde during the night after a horrible recurring nightmare. Hyde tries to sneak up to the lab and meets Mary. He kisses her, and she feels a strong attraction towards Hyde. Mary decides to stay. Bradshaw and Alicia go to the market together, where Bradshaw asks her to call him by his first name Robert when they are alone.

Lucy visits St. Jude's hospital and the lecture hall. There she meets Gabriella Blake and learns about the engagement of Jekyll. These are devastating news and Gabriella, feeling sorry for Lucy, takes her out for lunch. There Gabriella confesses to Lucy about her past, having worked in the same business as Lucy but having been lucky enough to get out of it. The women feel a strong friendship towards each other and agree to meet this Wednesday again.

Jekyll and Utterson are invited for dinner at Lanyon's and have a wonderful time together with their old friend and his cheerful and unconventional family. There, Jekyll breaks the news about his engagement.

Tuesday 26: Utterson awakes after a terrible nightmare, troubled by a bad conscience. Alicia gets a letter from her brother Alexander, containing a necklace with a golden dragon. Bradshaw reads the letter for her and offers Alicia to teach her to read. They start with the first lesson after dinner.

Cordelia and her maid Margaret arrive, to see the place which will soon be their home and to arrange some details for the party. They also meet the staff and only Mary feels uncomfortable meeting Cordelia.

Wednesday 27: The engagement party is postponed for a week, due to Cordelia's parents being delayed and not being able to make it in time.

Jekyll has planned to let Hyde out for a whole day. He gets second thoughts but Hyde forces the transformation. Hyde meets Bradshaw in the anatomical theatre and teases him, recognizing the strong desire of the under-butler for Alicia. Hyde offers to accompany Bradshaw to the "Red Rat" in the evening and leaves for town. Bradshaw has to face his desires and longings and considers to take up the offer.

Hyde has taken a photograph of himself and meets Cordelia and her maid, shopping for an engagement dress. Taunting her,  he is irritated by her self-assured answers as well as feelings towards her which don't belong to him but to Jekyll. On his way home, Hyde buys a furry coat.

Mary confesses to Bet that she is in love with the Doctor. Lucy and Gabriella meet in Hyde Park and Gabriella suggests to buy Lucy a walking dress. Gabriella detects the bruises on Lucy's arms when she tries a dress on and learns about Hyde. Before they part she offers Lucy to teach her to walk, talk and behave like a real lady.

Emma returns home from her four-week journey. She gets to know that Bet left the household. Lanyon calls in the afternoon on Jekyll, to ask if he wanted to borrow some of his servants for the party.

.... and here the game begins!