Palais Modena

Description

Headquarters of the British diplomatic delegation to the Congress of Vienna and the operational base for Lord Percival Harcourt (Earl of Wrexham) and the Order of St Aelfric in the city. Palais Modena is first referenced at the end of Session 4, when Harcourt — reunited with the party at the Hofburg Imperial Reception — presses a card into Georgiana’s hand with the address and a time: seven the next morning. The party visits in person for the first time at dawn on August 7 (Session 5), for what becomes the campaign’s central strategic briefing: the revelation of the Aeternum Choir’s global structure and the 5-of-8 requirement.

In play it is described as “every bit as grand as their own residence” at Palais Kinsky — marble-lined corridors, oak furnishings, guards at the gate, and a private plaza in front. Honoria receives arriving visitors personally and escorts them up a sweeping staircase to Harcourt’s private study, where he is found already at breakfast.

Notable Features

• Gated entrance and guards — the palace fronts its own private plaza and is guarded at the gate, a deliberate contrast to the more socially exposed Palais Kinsky.
• Harcourt’s private study — reached via a sweeping main staircase; doubles as both Harcourt’s personal quarters (breakfast is served there) and the Order’s Vienna command room.
• The map of pins — the study’s defining feature in play: a wall map bristling with pins, three red marking cult cells already destroyed (London, Lyon, Venice) and six black marking cells still active (Vienna, Warsaw, an area near Calcutta in India, Luxor in Egypt, Chengdu in China, and Ouro Preto in Brazil). This map is the visual anchor of the Session 5 briefing and the moment the Aeternum Choir’s true scale became clear to the party.
• Induction site — Harcourt formally recruited Thomas, Adrien, and Colonel Moreau into the Order here, presenting Order pins.
• Holding function — the palace also serves as a secure drop point for high-value captures. In Session 5, Count von Trautmannsdorff — expecting to be smuggled out of Vienna — was instead delivered here by Adrien (disguised as a coachman) and François, and dragged, kicking and screaming, into the custody of Harcourt’s waiting officers. Harcourt’s own line on the delivery: “Well done, Lord Montferrand.”

Connections

• Parent location: Vienna.
• Linked to the Harcourt Reunion event at the Hofburg — the card that sets up the first visit is handed over there.
• Contrasted with Palais Kinsky, the party’s own Vienna residence — comparable in grandeur, but purpose-built for Order operations rather than social cover.
• Named as an option (ultimately not the one chosen) for the party’s Session 7 relocation after Palais Kinsky was compromised — see Session_7_Plan.md, which weighs Palais Modena’s security against the risk of a Brotherhood watcher confirming the Order connection by seeing the party enter.

Appearances

Relationships

• Headquarters of Lord Percival Harcourt — British delegation and Order of St Aelfric operations base; his private study is here.
• Resides at Lady Honoria Lyndhurst — Greets and escorts visitors up the sweeping staircase to Harcourt's study; takes correspondence for later reading.
• Event location Leopold von Trautmannsdorff — Delivered here against his will and dragged into the Order's custody by Adrien in Session 5.
• Part of Vienna Overview — Located in Vienna, gated with its own private plaza.