Ausperghaus

This building is in a fashionable business section of Vienna, not far from the Hofburg It is an unremarkable two- story stone structure of unimpeachable sturdiness.
On the first floor, visitors enter into a magnificent main reception room with burgundy carpeting, crystal chandeliers, and Louis XIV furniture. A marble staircase leads to the second floor. Most of the first floor is offices and fling rooms. There is a complete kitchen with an excellent French chef and an expert Austrian pastry-maker — the stars of its staff. In the rear of the offices a rear stairwell leads to a full basement.
The basement door is made of sturdy oak and the investigators will see that it is always locked The basement holds the coal-burning furnace, the steam of which heats the building There are also four large concrete and brick vaults in which items to be auctioned off are stored. The steel doors to the vaults are still locked and secure; they cannot be overcome by any amount of smashing and bashing Each vault is an identical plain room, with an oversized dumbwaiter in a wall leading to a different preparation room two stories above In.
Each vault are a number of actual safes, strongboxes, labelled shelves, and so on Instruments on each door give temperature and humidity In the second story are eight rooms Four are superbly- furnished auction parlors, all with Austro-Hungarian empire motifs, and each has an adjoining preparation room The décor is uniform, but each set of parlor-preparation rooms has a different basic color Unused tables and chairs are stored in the appropriate preparation room.
An oversized dumbwaiter in the wall links each preparation room with the vaults in the basement below There are no doors to the dumbwaiters from the first story. The dumbwaiters are used solely to move items from the vaults to the preparation rooms without unseemly disturbance of the guests.

Flavor Text

Welcome to the Ausperghaus, an unremarkable two-story stone structure nestled in a fashionable business section of Vienna, not far from the grandeur of the Hofburg. While its exterior exudes an air of unimpeachable sturdiness, it conceals secrets that transcend the mundane world.
As you step inside, a chill creeps up your spine, and an unsettling stillness pervades the air. Despite its reputation as the finest auction house in Vienna, something about the place feels off, as if unseen eyes are watching your every move. The corridors echo with hushed whispers and faint echoes of footsteps, leaving you with an eerie sense of being in the company of spectral specters.
The grand halls, adorned with opulent chandeliers and ornate artwork, are steeped in history and intrigue. The echoes of past transactions seem to linger in the shadows, giving rise to strange and inexplicable occurrences that defy explanation. Visitors may hear ghostly murmurs, see fleeting apparitions, or sense an invisible presence that leaves them with an uncanny feeling of being observed.
As you ascend the creaking staircase to the upper floor, an air of foreboding grows, intensifying with each step. The attic, a realm of forgotten treasures and artifacts, appears to hold more than meets the eye. Dust-laden relics seem to come alive in the dim light, and the air feels heavy with the weight of forgotten stories and long-buried secrets.

Type

Art gallery

Parent Location

Vienna

Characters in Location

• Frederick Albert Ausperg

Related Report (Secondary Locations)

• Session 9: There's a shoulder where death comes to cry Report