Hmmm. What do you think of this?

[Rath Darkblade]

IMPORTANT NOTE: The whole idea came to me when I was reading a biography of Dr. Johann Georg Faust (1480 - c. 1540), who was probably the origin of all the Faust legends, stories, etc. that sprang up after his death - Marlowe's and Goethe's probably being the most famous. The stories all struck me as profoundly unfair, because Dr. Faust was - from what I read - a man who was dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake, rather than the black necromancer that he was made out to be. And so I thought, "What if Gabriel Knight was charged with separating fact from fiction on this case?"

This is an extremely rough draft and definitely unfinished... I've written a couple of scenes, but ever since I started it last year, I haven't had any ideas on how to continue. *shrugs* Hope you enjoy, and I hope you have some ideas... because I'm rather stuck! *blushes*

I was also hoping to eventually record it as a radio play, similar to the one Almirena created way back when, but there's no way to do that if it's not finished. Well, first things first! *smile*

Anyway, here is...
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The Continuing Adventures of Gabriel Knight in:
Live Faust, Die Young

Scene 1. Gabriel's castle, Schloss Ritter, in Germany... Gabriel is fast asleep in his bedroom. Despite the fact that the window is closed, however, the curtains are billowing inwards. Gabriel is tossing and turning, in the grip of a disturbing dream.

Gabriel: (in his sleep; slurred) No... no...

A face leers in the nightmare at Gabriel, a demonic face full of fangs and horns - only to be replaced by the face of a man, bearded, moustachioed and bespectacled; a kindly face, yet desperately worried about... something. Both faces disappear in a puff of smoke.

Gabriel: (in his sleep; slurred) Wha...?

Now a great fire appears in the dream; the man's face tries to scream something to him out of the fire, but dies away. In a shower of sparks, the man's face becomes younger and metamorphoses into the demonic visage - which reaches out to Gabriel with a talon. Gabriel wakes up.

Gabriel: Agh! (breathes heavily in fright) Man, what a dream. I should lay off the chilli bratwursts.

There is a heavy knock at the door. Gabriel sighs.

Gabriel: Coming!

Gerde enters with a breakfast tray. She looks up and giggles. Gabriel pulls up the blanket closer to him.

Gabriel: Gerde? Didn't I say I was coming?

Gerde: No, Herr Knight. You said "Come in" - so I did.

Gabriel: Get out!!

Gerde exits, muttering something unflattering under her breath.

Gabriel: God, sometimes I hate people who poke their noses in.

Grace enters breathlessly.

Grace: Hey Gabe, gotta minute?

Gabriel: Grace? What's up? And can you give me a minute to get dressed?

Grace: (sniffs; looks away) Take your time, hotshot. I doubt the dead guy is going to get much deader.

Gabriel: (in the act of zipping up his pants; zzzzzip...) What?!

Grace: (sighs) Always up to me to do the expository bit, isn't it? Get your coffee and let's go...

Scene 2. Schloss Ritter, downstairs. Gabe and Grace are having breakfast.

Gabriel: So who's the stiff?

Grace: The 'stiff' is Maximilian von Überschlatt, a descendant of some aristocratic family in Münich.

Gabriel: (chewing a piece of toast) Wait a minute. Aristocratic?

Grace: (terse) Yes. (sarcastically) You can tell by the 'von'.

Gabriel: Grace, you don't have to patronise me. I've been living here in Germany for... what, how long now?

Gerde: (serving them) Two years now, Herr Knight. And you still have the same grasp of the German language as a drunk praying mantis.

Gabriel: Vielen danke, mein fraülein Gerde.

Grace: Bitte schön, Herr Knight.

Gabriel: (somewhat annoyed) Look, what is this, Pick On Gabriel Day?

Gerde: Why not?

Grace: That's right. This could be amusing.

Gabriel: (furious) I'll tell you why not! Gerde, you work for me, and Grace... er...

Grace: (thoroughly unruffled) Yes...?

Gabriel: You... er... damn, you're attractive when you pretend not to care about what I'm saying. (Gerde rolls her eyes)

Grace: (arches an eyebrow) Pretend...?

Gabriel: Yeah! Like what you're doing now.

Grace: (sigh) Gabriel, I won't pretend I'm not flattered, but in case you forgot, we have a case to get to?

Gabriel: Oh! That's right. So who was this Maximilian an heir to?

Grace: (competently) The von Überschlatts are an aristocratic family, one of the oldest in Germany. Gerhardt von Überschlatt was one of the leaders of the Teutonic Order of knights that subjugated much of Poland and Lithuania in the 1300s. Johann von Überschlatt was a scholar, artist and composer during the Baroque period of the late 1600s, flourishing after the Thirty Years' War that tore Germany apart as a consequence of the Catholic-Protestant rift that was brought about by Martin Luther's famous theses being nailed to the Wittenberg church.

Gabriel: Yeah, that's great, but coming back to the 20th century...?

Grace: The von Überschlatt family had fallen on rather hard times in the fallout of the Second World War and were reduced to living in a mansion in a fashionable part of Münich.

Gabriel: (now it's his turn to arch an eyebrow) 'Reduced'?

Grace: Given that they owned a castle or two in Alsace-Lorraine, yes.

Gabriel: And owning a castle is a good thing, is it?

Grace: Heh. You own a castle, Gabe - you tell me.

Gabriel: Come on, Grace. You know as well as I do that owning one of these things is a lot of work, what with stamp duty and maintenance and all.

Grace: Well, the von Überschlatts owned some castles back at a time when those things meant a lot of money - what with taxing the peasants and droit de seigneur and all.

Gabriel: (sotto voce) Lucky bastards.

Gerde: (passing with a mug of beer) Pardon, Herr Knight?

Gabriel: Oh, nothing, Gerde.

Grace: That's right, Gerde. Gabriel was only rubbishing the von Überschlatts.

Gerde: But, Herr Knight, you mustn't do that. You do not know the von Überschlatts. (a light comes into her eyes - and into her voice) You do not know how wonderful the von Überschlatts are. They gave me my first job, they did, the von Überschlatts.

Gabriel: So how come you work here instead of with them?

Gerde: A distant cousin of the von Überschlatts family patriarch accused me of stealing. Me! A blameless Münich girl! But they all hanged together, and so I was fired. Oh! How inconsolable I was! But luckily I met Wolfgang Ritter not long after, and he gave me this job.

Grace: (drily) So much for 'the wonderful von Überschlatts'.

Gabriel: Anyway, Grace, we have a case. What can you tell me about Maximilian's death?

Grace: Family tried to hush it all up, Gabe - claimed it was suicide - but there's not much doubt about it. His head was smashed in with some blunt instrument. Not many people commit suicide by bashing their own head in.

Gerde: True. There are much less painful ways to go.

Gabriel: Exactly. Problem is, why are they telling such a ridiculous lie? Hmm - oh, and here's another thought -

Grace: (ironically) Another one, Gabe?

Gabriel: Yes, another one, actually - how come YOU know so much about it? Were you there?

Grace: You can stop climbing your high horse, Mr. High-and-Mighty Detective. Kommisar Stümper of the Prinzregentenplatz is investigating it, and he told me all about it.

Gabriel: Why did he tell you?

Grace: Because I, unlike some people, can get along with other people.

Gerde: And 'some people' would be...?

Gabriel: (sighs) Never mind, Gerde. Well, Grace - let's get on with the case!

Scene 3. At the Prinzregentenplatz, Gabriel and Grace are meeting with Kommisar Stümper...
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And this is where I drew a blank. I'm really not sure where it could go from here... has anyone any ideas?

Thanks for reading!

[Rath Darkblade]

Oh, by the way... (and I'm pretty sure you're heartily sick of me by now...)

I made a list of German phrases that might come in useful, if sprinkled here and there, to lend authenticity to the piece (although, to be honest, I got them from "The Germans", an episode of "Fawlty Towers", so I'm not sure how useful they would be!) *G* I also made a list of German names that suggested to me a "medieval" feel. If they can help you, here they are:

Female German names: Anneliese, Astrid, Helene, Konstanze, Johanna, Sigrid, Swenja.
Male German names: Christoph, Detlev, Klaus-Dieter, Rheinhardt, Sigmund, Volkmar, Ulrich.

German phrases:
Sprechen Sie Deutsch?
Entschuldigen Sie, bitte, können Sie Deutsch sprechen?
Ein bisschen.
Ah - wir wollen ein Auto mieten.
Bitte.

Gnädiges Fraülein, können sie mir sagen, wann das Mittagessen serviert wird, bitte?
Um ein Uhr, fünf Minuten.
Vilen dank.
Bitte schön.

Have fun, and thanks!

[Matthias]

Very interesting read, Rath! You did a good job with the banter between Gabriel and Grace.

I don't have anything to contribute right now (and I wouldn't feel right to, considering I'm not exactly a GK expert), but if I think of anything, I'll let you know.

[Tawmis]

I liked it - but don't know german so this was lost to me:

Gabriel: Vielen danke, mein fraülein Gerde.

Grace: Bitte schön, Herr Knight.

[Matthias]

I'm guessing it means:
Gabriel: Much thanks, my Ms. Gerde.
Gerde: Your welcome, Mr. Knight.

[Jules]

I liked all of it, Rath, but I don't know much history of the topics you mention. It seems like the next part of the story would consist of gathering more clues, talking to more people, as well as defining the locations, landscapes, and environment. And maybe more of how certain individuals are connected.

But, I'm not much of a writer so I don't know if that helps.

[Rath Darkblade]

I'm guessing it means:
Gabriel: Much thanks, my Ms. Gerde.
Gerde: You're welcome, Mr. Knight.

Well, something like that. I'm not an expert on German by any means - I'm guessing that the German in there is actually pretty atrocious - but I thought it might inject some mild bantering between Gabriel and Gerde, Gabriel trying to show that he is learning German, and Gerde brushing him off. *smile*

[Tawmis]

You should totally post this on the GK4 Forum which has a fanfic section... go! Sign up! Post!

[DeadPoolX]

I'm a little surprised that Gabriel would call Gerde "fraülein." Technically speaking, only a very young woman would be called that, whereas a woman who's a little older (and I mean in her 20s), would be referred to as a "fraü."

The word "fraü" can mean a multitude of things, such as "wife," "Mrs. or Ms." and even "woman." It's interesting that "fraülein" is reserved for young women (or girls) and is the equivalent of "Miss," but is not the word for girl. That would be "mädchen" instead.

I have a feeling that Gabe didn't know that (or rather, Jane Jensen didn't know it). Most people probably wouldn't, since movies and books tend to get it wrong.

[Almirena]

<just nips in to take the Umlaut from "Frau">

There we go.

And it's always fascinated me that, in spite of the natural logic of it, Mädchen is not a feminine noun. Its associated definite article is "Das" - it's neutral. Das Mädchen. Strange, isn't it?

[DeadPoolX]

<just nips in to take the Umlaut from "Frau">

There we go.

And it's always fascinated me that, in spite of the natural logic of it, Mädchen is not a feminine noun. Its associated definite article is "Das" - it's neutral. Das Mädchen. Strange, isn't it?

Any language with a neutral form is bound to be a little odd. Oh and thanks about the umlaut. I haven't written anything in German for so long, I'm a bit rusty.

[Almirena]

May I just say, DPX, what a terrific avatar that is?

[DeadPoolX]

Thanks, Al!

The original image was black-and-white, so I cropped and colorized it to work better on the forum. The game it's from is called Hotel Dusk: Room 215, which is an adventure game for the Nintendo DS. Unfortunately, there are no plans for a PC version.